Lonely Beauty: Book One
by PinkGoingOnBlack
Summary: Callista was a child that emeraged from sea foam on the shores of Camp Half Blood. Chiron takes her in as one of his own and is raised at the camp all of her life. What happens when Chiron invites her to go on a mission to observe Percy Jackson?
1. Chapter 1: Strange Field Trip

Lonely Beauty: Book One of Percy Jackson and the Olympians

Chapter One: Strange Field Trip

By Liz

~(Author's Note)~ Just to make everything clear. This story may not ever be finished. I don't know where to exactly go with it, but I really wanted to write is since I've been having writer's block issues with my Harry Potter story, Little Black Sheep. This might not be updated for forever and a half or it might be updated everyday. I don't know. But this is my story I'll drop back on when I can't write the other one. Okay? Thank you ^.^

It was a calm night after a busy day at Camp Half-Blood. The stars shimmered in the midnight blue sky and the crickets' chirps and frogs' croaks rung through the refreshing cool air, creating almost a soothing lullaby. Dew glittered on the strawberry fields like diamonds just like every night and the campers slept soundlessly in their cabins, completely unaware to what was happening. Along the shores of Firework's Beach, the navy blue sea gently rolled onto the cooled sand, leaving many treasures behind. Suddenly, a large wave furiously raced to the shore and smashed into it, the sea foam glowing in the moonlight, giving off an eerie atmosphere. As the abnormal wave retreated back to the sea, it left something in the foam, a baby.

It's wailed cried into the night, causing the chirps and the croaks to be drowned out and the calmness of the night to shatter. Lights filtered through the trees as cabin mates flicked on their lights, groaning at the noise. Soon enough, there was chatter coming from the woods, and the abandoned baby continued to bawl into the night. Footsteps, clattering armor, and galloping soon competed with the baby's howling as they arrived.

A centaur was leading the front, his pure white coat gleaming in the light. His face was fierce, his brown hair blowing in the breeze, and was ready for battle, but as soon as he spotted the small child curled up in a rose pink blanket, his features softened and confusion flitted on his face.

"A baby?" Someone cried in puzzlement from the crowd of fully armed demigods behind the centaur.

Whispers soon spread like wild fire, "A baby on the beach, _impossible_."

"How did it get here?"

"Why didn't it drown in the sea?"

An ear splitting shriek came from the small form once more and the white stallion centaur hushed his campers, "Shhh, you're scaring it."

The group became quiet at once as their leader slowly trotted over to the bundle. He looked down at it with sparkling eyes, immediately feeling protective over the child. He bent down, feeling the smooth, slippery fabric that covered the baby brush his hands as he lifted it into his strong arms.

"Shhhh…it's alright…shhh…" He cooed at her, his brown beard sweeping against the child's skin. The babe soon quieted down and looked up at the man with wide eyes.

He smiled down at it and noticed that its eyes shined an alluring green as thick eye lashes rimmed them. Her expression was of pure curiosity and her small lips were partially parted, thick tears still remaining on her chubby cheeks. Suddenly, she hiccupped and he gave a small chuckle. The campers behind him watched soundlessly, the air between them tense.

His eyes then flickered down to her neck and he noticed that a delicate gold chain was hanging from it. He pulled it up to see it was a golden seashell, bordered with emeralds. He stared in wonder at the jewelry, wondering which god it could be from. A piece of thick paper stuck out of the child's blanket and he gingerly pulled it out, flipping it open.

_Dear Chiron,_

_This is my baby girl, Callista. Please take care of her, for I fear the worse it to come for my mistake. Thank you, I am forever in your debt._

There was no signature at the end of the letter and Chiron worried that this meant this baby would be in grave danger. He glimpsed at her small, innocent face again and felt his chest welling. He couldn't leave her here. He then turned around to his group and said, "We have a new camper!"

"Who's her god?" An Ares child asked, wearily staring at the child.

"I don't know," He told them, "I'll be taking care of her until she is old enough." He started to walk through the crowd, towards the cabins when an Athena's daughter touched his arm.

"This is not wise, Chiron. It is suspicious that such a baby would suddenly appear on our shores without a parent claiming her. Are you sure you want to keep her?" She asked, her eyes worriedly staring up at Chiron.

"Well, what do you propose we do otherwise, Lilliana?" Chiron asked her and she bowed her head.

"The best thing to do is to dispose of it," She whispered and Chiron's fur bristled.

"And anger the parents of this child? They have asked me to take care of this baby, Callista, and I shall honor this request." He told the camper, his voice unintentionally cooler that he wanted.

She backed away, "I'm sorry, Chiron, for suggesting such an offer."

"It's ok, child. It is wise to think of the risks of keeping this baby, but I think it's worth it. Come on, back to your cabins." Chiron nodded to her and the rest of the group started walking through the trees.

The centaur glanced at the baby that remained in his arms and grinned as he saw it blowing bubbles with its mouth.

"Oh, Little Callista. Who dropped you off here?" He asked her with affectionate eyes, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

As he approached the Big House, Dionysus, the God of Wine, lumbered out of the front door, rubbing his eyes.

"What's with all the racket?" He asked irritably.

"Mr. D, it seems we have a new recruit." Chiron slightly held the baby out to him and Mr. D grimaced.

"Oh great! Another one and it's a baby! When will those guys in Olympus just stop having kids!" He shouted, throwing his arms above his head in annoyance.

"Mr. D, I have a feeling that you'll like this Callista," Chiron tried to show the god the baby fully, but Mr. D just waved his hand as if dismissing him.

"I don't want to see that poop flinging rat, just do whatever you want with it. I don't care," And then he stumbled back inside, grumbling about 'stupid babies.'

Chiron just shook his head and followed Mr. D into the building.

"How about you get some sleep, Callista?" He asked the child, playing with her chin with his fingertips.

She giggled, a beautiful toothless smile spreading across her face as she gripped his large finger with her tiny hands. He grinned down at her, gathering another blanket and a box for her to sleep in for tonight.

"Sweet dreams, Callista." He whispered to her and walked over to his own bed, falling asleep for the next day.

Twelve Years Later, May, 2005:

I sighed as I stared out the window of the smelly, yellow bus I was riding. It was cramped with tons of other kids as I tried not to look disgusted as one of the boys in the seat behind me was picking his nose and eating it. There was a girl next to me, who was just babbling away how she liked Jerry Gronger, a boy in my class.

"He's so smart and just absolutely _cute_! Don't you think so, Calli?" She turned to me expectantly and I shook my head to get out of my daze.

"Sorry, Mandy, what were you saying?" I asked, still feeling a little distant, brushing back a lock of my chocolate brown hair.

"Calli! Were you listening to even one word I was saying?" She pouted.

"Yes, you were talking about Jerry," I smiled at her, but I absolutely detested this girl.

I knew I had to do it for my dad, Chiron. Actually he's not my dad, but he raised me when I was abandoned by the border of the camp. You're probably wondering what I mean by 'camp'. Well, I'm a demigod, which is an offspring of both a mortal and a god. Problem was, I didn't know who were either of my parents and Chiron would always stare worriedly at me whenever I mentioned it. He seemed to be more relieved when we found this Percy Jackson. When I asked why we were tracking this guy, he just said he was probably a demigod. I didn't push him further, knowing that he wouldn't reveal anymore. So, all I knew is that if my dad's suspicions were confirmed, he would bring this boy back to Camp Half Blood and train him to be a warrior.

Camp Half Blood is a place where demigods can go where monsters can't find them and they can learn about their heritage. My father had sent some people to go get demigods and some were purposely sent here by their parents. We've had many run-aways come to the border, too, being chased by monsters. You see, they follow the smell of a demigod and the stronger the smell, the stronger the demigod's god parent must have been. My father asked me to come along since I've been trained to fight monsters for my whole life, seeing as I never lived anywhere else besides Camp Half Blood. He also gathered Grover to come with him to Yancy Academy to help retrieve Percy Jackson. I was extremely excited when my dad offered for me to come, but now that I was here on this stupid, crowded bus, listening to Bratty Mandy jabber about boys, I somewhat wished I was back at camp, training with a sword. What made it even worse is that Grover got to be Percy's best friend, not me.

Grover was satyr, you know, the things that are half goat and half human? You're probably wondering how he could go to Percy's school and not have people scream when they saw him. Grover had a cover of course. Grover was a new student and wore extremely baggy jeans to cover his hair legs and Kleenex stuffed sneakers to hide his hooves. He also had a 'doctor's' note saying that he was crippled for life from some muscle disease and couldn't participate in gym. With Grover's goat legs, he also walked a little funny in his human shoes and I could see how everyone believed he was a cripple.

Getting me in was easy. They just told the people I had dyslexia and ADHD, which most demigods were told they had by humans. My name at this school was Callista Johnson, which was half true. Actually, I didn't have a last name, which didn't really bother me much. I mean it was better to have no last name than a boring on like 'Smith'. No offense to anyone who has that last name. Anyways, my cover said that I was some new student from Austin, Texas and that my parents were business people who were always away. So, that pretty much covered everything, because I found I could persuade people easily, especially men. I knew that I was considered pretty with my long chocolate brown hair and ever changing eyes, so I don't know whether they were perverts or something, but it seemed that it was easy to manipulate them. Chiron didn't know what to make of it, so I just told him I was practicing it. Ya, so I lied to him, whatever. I didn't want to worry him with anything that he didn't need to worry about. Another 'power' that I found out I had was that my eye color always changed. Chiron always told me mine was this green that reminded him of this one woman he liked. Others would tell me they were some brown or blue or something and that it would remind them of who they loved. At school, no one really noticed that my eyes changed because no one really went up and announced "OH MY GOD! YOUR EYES ARE BLUE! MY FRIEND SAID THEY WERE BROWN!" Things like that just don't happen. To me my eyes were a sky blue and I couldn't understand why.

My father, Chiron, was a Latin teacher called Mr. Brunner. To cover up his horse half of his body, he had a wheelchair that somehow made his behind smaller and concealed it. He had fake jelly legs that he had for show and completely nailed his old, poor crippled guy appearance. With a little persuasion from me, he got a job at Yancy Academy. He was probably the best teacher the school ever had and ever will have.

So, that's how I got here, staring over at Percy's and Grover's seat, wondering. Grover was getting a sandwich pelted at the back of his brown curly hair by this girl even more annoying than Mandy. Her name was Nancy Bobofit and had bright, red hair and almost fake tan colored freckles. She loved to tease Grover and Percy and at this moment, it looked like it took everything Percy had to not sock her in the face. But everyone knew that Percy could do nothing, seeing as he was on school probation. My dad told me that the principal of the school had threatened Percy that if anything fishy happened during the trip, he would have in-school suspension. To me, that didn't seem like a bad punishment, not what I've been through at camp, but I could tell that Percy loved his mortal mother and couldn't bear to hurt her.

Ok, I have to admit. I was just a little jealous that Percy knew at least one of his parents, even if it was just the mortal one. I mean, it was way better than being stranded by them, like I was. I just popped on a beach, out of nowhere, and Chiron found me crying. He said that he found a letter and a necklace with me. The letter had no signature, so I never knew who dropped me off.

I grabbed my shell pendent and started to rub it between my thumb and forefinger.

"Oh…that's such a pretty necklace, is that real gold?" Mandy's eyes zoomed in onto what I was holding my hand.

"No, it's fake," I quickly told her and slipped it back into my shirt.

She pouted, crossing her arms, "Fine." And turned away.

I sighed, looking back at Percy. He had coal black hair and sea-green eyes that were such an exotic color, they stood out dramatically against his black hair. His eye brows were furrowed and I could tell he was so close to exploding in anger, which he did at times. I didn't blame him, I mean, if I was told I had ADHD and dyslexia and I failed at every subject, I wouldn't be too happy either. This school wasn't really helping things either. The teachers always seemed to look down on Percy, but there was this one teacher that really bugged Percy and whenever she smiled at me, I would shudder. There was something odd about her and she didn't really warm up to me, despite the fact that everyone else seemed to want to be my friend.

In Percy's school, I was considered to be a popular, giggly girl brat, a cover that I despised, but it worked. I heard rumors about Percy and everything and I told Chiron anything that was useful. Still, I wished to be his friend instead. It seemed that Grover fit the roll perfectly though, since he was considered a loser at this school. He overreacted to many things and since he had a small beard, the kids thought he was probably held back and dumb. So, Percy warmed up to him since they were both considered 'freaks.'

How did Percy become a freak? I wondered that myself, but when I heard his history, I soon realized why. Percy had accidently shot a cannon ball at the school's bus in fifth grade on a Saratoga field trip. He got expelled, of course. In fourth grade, he had dunked everyone in a shark infested pool because he pushed a lever at Marine World. Another school he got kicked out of. Then he did something in third grade and so on. It seemed that whatever school Percy went to, he always got kicked out. I didn't think this one would be an exception.

This time, we were on a field trip to Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. Soon enough, the bus slowed down and I sighed, knowing that this trip would probably be a drag. At the time, I didn't know how much of a drag it really would be when I exited the bus's folding doors. I raised my head slightly up and breathed in the fresh air, happy to be out of the stale air of the bus.

My father was the one who was our guide for the tutor and Mrs. Dodds stood behind us, grinning deviously. He pushed the lever on his wheelchair and moved forward, passing many glass cases filled with ancient pots and other artifacts that I fully knew Chiron may have seen be created. I smiled at the thought and stood next to Nancy Bobofit. Her giggling was like nails on a chalkboard and I could hardly stand it, but I laughed with her.

I then glanced at Percy and Grover and say that Percy was looking at everything with awe. Well, I guess it wasn't everyday you saw ancient stuff, if you lived a mortal life. We suddenly stopped at a marble column, which was at least twice my height, where a prowling sphinx laid on the top. It was a _stele_, something like a grave stone. I could barely hear him as the girls next to me chatted about what was Mandy going to do about Jerry. I struggled to not roll my eyes as I gave a few comments. I caught of few snippets of what he said and I realized that it was for a girl my age. I gulped and held back tears. There were many demigods who were just like her, dead before they even grew up.

"Something wrong, Calli?" Mandy asked me with concern and I shook my head.

"No, why would there be something wrong?" I asked and they started gossiping again.

Chiron was now pointing towards the two carvings on each side of the statue, but I couldn't hear what he said. Not like I needed to anyways. Chiron had already taught me everything he did in that Latin class he was doing here. I, by no means, have learned everything about mythology, but I knew a pretty good chunk.

"So, what do you think?" I heard Mandy and I turned to her.

"Oh, um, I think it's great." I hurriedly told her and she smiled, giggling.

"_Shut up_." I heard a familiar voice whisper.

"Who you telling that to, Jackson?" I hissed, knowing I had to keep my act up.

He glared at me, "You, Jonhson."

I then watched Percy recoil and I turned around to see Mrs. Dodds giving him her sickly sweet smile and I could already hear her say, "Now, honey…" I felt bad for being so mean to Percy, but I had to. If I wasn't, I would blow my cover. If I blew my cover, my dad wouldn't be too happy.

There was always something strange about Mrs. Dodds. There was something so… unnatural about her. There would always be a tug in my stomach whenever she got close to me and I didn't know why. I always just shook it off. Mrs. Dodds was a pre algebra teacher from Georgia and would always, _always _where this black, leather biker jacket, which just added to her sharp appearance. She just popped out of nowhere in the middle of this year and I've always been a little suspicious about her. She seemed to have this grudge on Percy and he would always get these terrible punishments like erasing answers out of math books for forever and a half. Grover told me.

I saw that my dad was still pointing to the carving and was probably describing how intricate they were.

"Look, there's a _naked_ guy on the side, ewww." Nancy snickered, pointing over at it.

That's when Percy finally snapped. He looked furiously into Nancy's eyes and sneered, "Will you _shut up_?"

Suddenly, everyone was laughing and my father looked over at Percy. I felt bad for him, he always got in trouble.

"Mr. Jackson," Chiron said in his deep voice, "did you have a comment?"

Percy's face turned so red, I could have mistaken it for a seriously overgrown cherry, "No, sir."

My father then turned to the stele and pointed to one of the carvings, the group pretty quiet now, "Perhaps you'll tell us what this picture represents?"

I could feel the relief come off of Percy, which at that moment, I thought was pretty weird. I shook my head and watched as Percy slightly smiled and started to explain, "That's Kronos eating his kids, right?"

I gulped, and looked over at my father for a reaction. I knew that this was a touchy subject for him, Kronos being his father and all.

"Yes," Chiron said with a straight face and moved his as if trying to make Percy say more, "And he did this because…"

"Well…" Percy looked up out of the corner of his eyes to the ceiling, as if he was trying to think.

Come on, you know this! I silently pleaded that he would answer.

"Kronos was the king god, and-" Percy started to explain.

"God?" Chiron asked him, a small grin on his lips.

"Titan," Percy corrected his mistake, "And… he didn't trust his kids, who were the gods. So, um, Kronos ate them, right? But his wife hid baby Zeus, and gave Kronos a rock to eat instead. And later, when Zeus grew up, he tricked his dad, Kronos, into barfing up his brothers and sister-"

"Ewwww!" The girls around me chorused and I joined them reluctantly.

"-and so there was this big fight between the gods and the Titans, and the gods won." Percy finished, looking hopeful at my father.

I had to admit, Percy knew his mythology, despite living with his mortal mother.

A few people snickered in the crowd at how, probably thinking Percy was a loser for knowing this. I wanted to scowl at them and say that all of this was real, but I knew I couldn't. I bit my tongue and swallowed my words.

I then heard Nancy whisper into my ear, "Like we're going to use this in real life. Like it's going to say on our job applications, 'Please explain why Kronos ate his kids.'"

I was furious and it was hard to control my emotions. I felt suddenly unstable and I was going to yell at her about how that Kronos actually did eat his kids when my father spoke.

"And why, Mr. Jackson," My father asked, saving me, "to paraphrase Miss Bobofit's question excellent question, does this matter in real life?"

I felt a little dazed, but otherwise, things were back to normal. I could hear Grover whisper in front of me.

"Busted."

"Shut up," Nancy snapped at him and I would have laughed if I could. She looked ridiculous.

Percy took a second to think and then shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know, sir."

"I see," My father sagged slightly in disappointment, "Well, half credit, Mr. Jackson. Zeus did indeed feed Kronos a mixture of mustard and wine, which made him disgorge his other five children, who, of course, being immortal gods, had been living and growing up completely undigested in the Titan's stomach. The gods defeated their father, sliced him to pieces with his own scythe, and scattered his remains in Tatarus, the darkest part of the Underworld. On that happy note, it's time for lunch. Mrs. Dodds would you lead us back outside?"

I followed the group, the girls moaning about that they were going to puke and the guys were laughing about how it must have been, living in a stomach. I grimaced and sneakily looked back at Grover and Percy. They were slowly coming when my father spoke.

"Mr. Jackson."

I knew that my father wasn't going to punish him, but Percy sighed and seemed to be thinking 'Oh great, I knew it.' He then turned to Grover and told him to come out with us, and that he'll be out in a sec. I turned back to Nancy and said, "I'll see you later." She barely seemed to have noticed.

I slide by the wall and waited for Grover to come. He knew that I was waiting for him, but he barely glanced over when I jumped by his side.

"Hey, Grover." I greeted him with a smiling face, happy to be able to talk to him.

"Hey, Calli. Sorry about uh, leaving you with Nancy," he smiled sheepishly (goatishly?) at me.

"Oh, don't worry. I won't have to deal with her for long," I told him, feeling relief flow through me, "Then it's back to camp."

"Yep, camp," Grover said dreamily and I knew he longed to be back there instead of here.

He was really best friends with Percy though. I could just feel the bond they had. I vaguely wished that he was that close to me. I sighed, knowing Percy probably hated me.

"He doesn't hate you," Grover told me, as if reading my mind.

"Really?" I asked, puzzled. After all the times I aided Nancy in pranking Percy, I would suspect he would have wanted to kill me by now.

"He just hates your cover," He said and I punched him in the shoulder.

"Sure," I mumbled and he looked at me worriedly.

"Have you felt those emotions again?" He asked and I almost regretted telling him about it.

"Yes," I whispered, "It was Percy again."

"Man, that has been the third time this week, are you ok?" He put a hand on my shoulder and I straightened up.

"I'm fine. Just don't tell Chiron." I straightened up and he nodded to me.

I gave him a nod back and strode over to Nancy's group, feeling annoyed before I even got there. Everyone was eating lunch on the steps of the Museum's entrance, right in front of Fifth Avenue. Streams of yellow passed down the road, people whistling for taxis. It was much different from Camp Half Blood, but sometimes I longed for the sweet strawberry fields and clanging of swords. I watched Nancy leave the group, holding a finger to her lips and the girls stifled their laughter as she got closer to a lady who had her back turned. I rolled my eyes and knew Nancy was going to try to pickpocket her.

The sky was a terrible grey and was swirling, as if it was angry, which it probably was. I heard snips and bits about what had been happening on Olympus. Apparently, Zeus and Poseidon weren't on good terms, but I didn't know why. I didn't ask my father, knowing that I wouldn't get an answer. We had gotten awful blizzards this winter, flooding this spring, and there have been multiple wildfires from some lightning storms. This all told me it was something big, not just a small grudge. I was almost to Nancy's group when I spotted that Percy was already done with his meeting with my dad and was passing an apple to Grover. I then plopped down next to the girls, a fake smile on my face.

"What is Nancy doing?" I asked and they snickered.

"She's getting some money from that woman's purse," A blonde girl next to me giggled.

"That old woman is so clueless! Look!" Mandy pointed over at them.

I saw that the woman looked fairly wealthy and her large bag sat next to her as she talked on a cell phone. Nancy was crawling up to it, and unzipped the purse and smiled at us. The girls next to me broke out into laughter and I followed suite, feeling like I haven't had a bath in weeks. I could feel a stare bore into my back and I knew it was Percy glowering at me. It felt wrong to have someone hate me, when everyone liked me. I couldn't stand it and Grover knew it to.

These emotion things weren't helping either. Quite a few times this year I could feel emotions from Percy. I didn't know why it was just him or why it happened, it just did. Sometimes, I would feel his resentment towards me and I would feel sad. It just wasn't right having someone think that way of me.

I glanced over at my father out of the corner of my eye. He was contently reading a human novel, which I occasionally tried to read, but failed because of my 'dyslexia.' A stalk of celery was in his hand as he munched on it. I smiled. He loved celery, but he much preferred carrots instead. A scarlet umbrella was over his head and I looked at it weirdly. It wasn't raining, why did he have an umbrella?

Mandy suddenly tugged on my hand, "Calli, I have to go to the bathroom. Come with me."

The bathroom was just inside the side entrance, which gave me full view of Percy's fountain. Grover and he were just talking and I sighed. I needed a friend like that. It's not like I don't have friends at camp, I mean, everyone loved me. It's just, I felt like I wanted him as my friend. He would probably know me better, seeing as he didn't know his god parent. It fascinated me about what Chiron told me about Mrs. Jackson. I've seen her a few times and I loved how she acted. It made me wonder more about Percy's past.

Suddenly, I spotted Nancy sauntering over to Grover and Percy. She was smiling, all done with the poor woman tourist. Her pack was right with her and they towered over the two boys. I watched as she tipped her lunch all over Grover and she smiled innocently.

"Oops," I knew she was smiling her crooked tooth smile.

I started to feel anger that wasn't my own build in the pit of my stomach. I clutched it and watched worriedly as the tug grew larger, until I found myself screaming on the ground, the burning of the power and anger filling my whole body. The sensation was painful to me, but I could see that Percy was fine, and that a large wave poured right over Nancy. It snatched her right up and she was in the fountain, untouched by Percy. I was still on the ground, feeling Percy's emotions drain away. He was staring at me, with a wondrous look on his face. Without meaning to, I could feel that I was sending him a look that said 'I'm in pain.' His confusion mounted when I heard Nancy.

"Percy pushed me!" She cried and no one seemed to have noticed my scream.

It seemed impossible, it was awfully loud. Suddenly, Mrs. Dodds was right next to Percy, her creepy smile on her face.

Whispers spread through the crowding group like wild fire.

"Did you see-"

"-the water-"

"-like it grabbed her-"

The power that I felt was so large and I stared puzzled at Percy. Who was his dad? I scrambled to get up as I heard Mandy coming out of the bathroom.

"What happened?" She cried, spotting Mrs. Dodd's helping Nancy out of the fountain.

"Jackson pushed Nancy into the fountain!" I pretended to look worried for her.

"Oh, poor Nancy!" Mandy rushed over to them and didn't even notice I wasn't following her.

There was a weird tugging sensation in my stomach as Mrs. Dodds got closer to Percy after helping Nancy and promising to get her a new shirt from the gift shop. I could see the triumph in her eyes, even from where I was at. Something was wrong.

"Now honey-" She said in her sickly sweet voice.

Percy slumped, "I know," he mumbled, "A month erasing workbooks."

It seemed like Percy spoke the wrong words.

"Come with me," she said, curling her finger towards herself.

"Wait!" Grover yelled, "It was me. _I_ pushed her."

At that instant I knew something was absolutely _wrong_. Grover was afraid of a lot of things, but he feared Mrs. Dodds the most. At first, I didn't know why. Then I started to have a suspicion that Grover knew something I didn't. That's when it hit me, Mrs. Dodds probably wasn't human after all.

I watched her gaze flicker over to Grover and the glare she trained onto Grover's face could have melted him into a puddle of goop.

"I don't think so Mr. Underwood." She smiled at him and I shuddered.

She was a monster.

"But-" Grover tried to argue.

"You-_will_-stay-here." She said in a final tone.

Grover looked helpless and wanted to help Percy so much. Percy just gave Grover a weird look.

"It's okay, man. Thanks for trying," He gave him a small smile and turned to Mrs. Dodds.

"Honey," Mrs. Dodd growled, "_Now_."

I watched Nancy smirk and I wanted to tear her apart right then and there. Screw what the gods said about mortals! I saw Percy give her a glare of his own and I saw that Mrs. Dodds had zoomed up to the top of the steps. Percy looked behind himself and gawked at how Mrs. Dodds could be already up there. I had an idea how.

I saw Mrs. Dodd smiled down at Percy as he caught up with her and they both walked into the building. I looked to see if anyone was looking and I met Grover's gaze.

"_Go_." He mouthed and I nodded, slipping in through the side doors of the museum. It looked like the entire building was empty and that all of this was fitting into Mrs. Dodds plan exactly.

I passed by the crystal cases and finally I could hear Percy's footsteps. Mrs. Dodds just appeared right at the end of the hall and I had to hold in a gasp. I stood stock still, worried that she would find me. Percy walked up to her and she led him into the left hall, towards the Greek and Roman section. I followed them soundlessly, my hand hovering over one of the swords I borrowed from the camp.

Suddenly she stopped and the whole place was deserted. I felt slightly panicky, but I remembered my training. She crossed her arms in front a bunch of statues of the gods and goddesses. She grimaced at a statue, a weird growling noise coming from her throat. I knew it wouldn't be long before she did something to Percy, but I also knew that I had to have the right timing.

It seemed weird that she was growling at the statues, but then I realized that monsters hated the gods. Heroes, or demigods, would always be sent to kill them, one way or another, so they despised the gods. I had a feeling this was connected to why she hated Percy and never acted exactly warmly to me. She looked like she wanted to rip the statue from its stand and throw it on the floor, which I fully knew she could.

"You've been giving us problems, honey," Mrs. Dodds hissed from where she stood.

Percy still seemed to think she was a usual teacher, "Yes, ma'am."

She then turned around, pulling at her jacket cuffs. I started to feel a little nervous. What was she talking about?

"Did you really think you would get away with it?" She asked, sneering.

The look in her eyes were dangerous. Malice filled her irises and I could feel my heart beat rising.

Percy looked freaked out, but I could tell he was trying to convince himself she was just a normal person. How wrong he was. I saw him gulp.

"I'll-I'll try harder, ma'am." He stuttered and I could see he was really getting scared.

I clutched the hilt of my sword and got ready to strike. I could feel the thunder rumble throughout the building.

"We are not fools, Percy Jackson," Mrs. Dodds growled at him, "It was only a matter of time before we found you out. Confess, and you will suffer less pain.

I could tell that Percy was confused. He was probably running through his thoughts in his head, wondering what they had found out. I knew that this wasn't some school matter. It was something much more important.

"Well?" She leaned closer to Percy, angry.

"Ma'am, I don't…" Percy started to say when she glared him

"Your time is up," She harshly whispered and backed slightly up.

She started to morph into her real form. I watched as her eyes turned a fiery orange, glowing like a fire. Her bony fingers stretched to an impossible length, her nails growing into menacing claws. That ridiculous biker jacket that she always wore started to sink into her skin and grow into oily black wings. It was unbelievable. She looked like an evil old woman, with glowing eyes and vampire wings. She smiled at Percy, her mouth full of vicious yellow canines.

I jumped into the hallway, when a hand grabbed onto the back of my shirt, yanking me back. Percy looked my way and his eyes grew wide in confusion as he cowered away from Mrs. Dodds revolting form.

"What ho, Percy!" My father shouted, throwing his pen that was actually his sword, into the air.

Mrs. Dodds pounced towards Percy as he jumped out of the way. I wrestled against my father's grip, but he just clutched onto my shirt tighter.

"He has to do this himself," He order me and I stopped struggling, knowing that I wouldn't make it through.

I looked back at Percy to see that the pen was now its rightful form, a sword. He brought it out in front of himself, watching Mrs. Dodd turn to look at him. She glowered at Percy, her tongue flitting along her lips. Percy's hands were trembling and his sword quivered in his hands. I wondered how he was going to ever stand a chance against that.

"Die, honey!" She shrieked into the air and was suddenly speeding right for Percy.

I wanted to jump in and save him. I really wanted to, I didn't want to see him die, put my father threw his arm out, "We must leave."

He started to zoom me out of the hall and I looked behind me, just in time to see Percy swing the sword at the monster. It slid right through her mid section without a problem and she suddenly vaporized into sand. Falling into a pile on the floor. We had just turned the corner when he finally looked up.

"Dad, that was a Furie wasn't it?" I asked, my voice slightly wobbling. I cleared my throat.

"Yes, Calli." He answered gravelly, "Now, we must act like nothing happened."

We had exited through the door now and Grover was looking anxiously at us.

"Is he ok?" He asked worriedly.

"Yes," I answered and the other kids were looking at us like we were crazy.

"You may not speak of this to Percy, Grover," Chiron told him.

"But-"

"No, Grover," He said in his final voice and then he turned to the group of kids.

A blonde woman was walking up the steps of the museum and had walked over to us, looking at the kids worriedly

"What's going on?" She asked, looking with concern at Chiron.

My father then snapped his fingers and a breezed washed over us. The eyes of the kids and the blonde lady turned glossy.

"You're our new pre algebra teacher that came here last Christmas, Mrs. Kerr. You have just punished Percy Jackson for pushing Nancy Bobofit into a fountain. Now finish your lunch." He told them and the breeze disappeared.

Everyone blinked and returned to their normal things, acting as if nothing had happened. My father was manipulating the Mist. Mist is what the human mind conjures up to cover up something unusual and tries to make it something it can easily understand.

Ran drops splattered on my clothes and I looked up to the sky. The dark clouds were swirling and I was getting worried. What was happening up there?

"Hey, Calli, come on!" Mandy pulled me over to where Nancy was and I looked over at Grover, giving him a knowing look as he covered his head with a museum map.

"I can't believe Percy did that! That jerk!" Nancy complained, trying to wring the water out of the bottom of her shirt.

Her eyes then flickered up and glared. I turned around to see a shocked Percy was walking towards Grover.

"I hope Mrs. Kerr whipped your butt." She sneered at him and I remembered I had to act like nothing happened.

I glared at him too.

"Who?" He asked, puzzled.

"Our _teacher_. Duh!" I told him, rolling my eyes and immediately feeling bad.

He looked at me, confused, "You were there."

"I was where? I was right here with Mandy and Nancy, you freak!" I shouted at him and then laughed.

Nancy and Mandy laughed with me, but just before Percy turned away, I casted him a sad glance. I don't know whether he caught it or not, but I felt exhausted, as if I was carrying the world on my shoulders.

I watched out of the corner of my eye as Percy asked Grover where Mrs. Dodds was.

"Who?" Grover asked, but the look on his face gave it all away. He looked guilty and his eyes looked anywhere but him.

"Not funny, man," Percy told him in a stern voice, "This is serious."

I heard the rumble of thunder again and I turned over to the girls in front of me. I knew that Percy was going to ask my father about it and then he'll just give him some lie. I felt absolutely wretched for doing this, but I couldn't disobey my father's orders.

"Let's go and ask Mrs. Kerr is she'll buy me a new t-shirt," Nancy said and I followed her up to the building.

I'm sorry Percy Jackson.


	2. Chapter 2: Getting Angry

Lonely Beauty: Percy Jackson and the Olympians Book One

Chapter Two: Getting Angry

By Liz

Grover and I have been watching Percy over the last two months of school. I worried constantly for the boy, knowing that he must be thinking that he was going crazy. I knew that since Grover couldn't lie for his life that Percy had doubts and that despite that the kids were all misted, he still believed that something happened that day at the museum. It was weird for me to act like all the kids, like I was just someone else who also thought he was a freak. It felt wrong in all the senses of the word. He probably thought it was this huge prank on him at first because he would say something about Mrs. Dodds and everyone would look at him funny.

I was nicer to him. I know, this was slightly blowing my cover, but I just couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't be mean to him. He would always look at me weirdly and give me the look saying 'I know you were there.' I would always frown and turn away when he stared at me like that. I didn't know why my father was torturing him like this.

I knew my father was smart though and that he wanted what was best for Percy, but this time I couldn't agree. There were a few close calls where I was so close to telling Percy that that did happen for real, it wasn't some hallucination. Before I did though, I bit my tongue, and turned away.

Ever since that incident at the museum, I always had nightmares at night. I heard that demigods got them before, but never like this.

_I would be standing in front of myself._

"_You have to tell him." I stared at the clone in front me, her face blank, her brown hair framing it._

"_I know, but I can't!" I cried and she just smiled._

"_He has to know." Her blue eyes bore into mine._

"_No!" I screamed and she morphed in front of me._

_My hair became wispy and thin, put into a bun on top of my head. My skin started to wrinkle profoundly and my eyes glowed like embers in a fire. Wings stared to grow on my arms from something that looked like sticky tar. Mrs. Dodds grinned maliciously at me, her teeth a mossy yellow._

"_HE HAS TO KNOW!"She shrieked and lunged for me._

I would then fling right in my bed, breathing deeply and look over at Mandy, my roommate, to see she was soundly asleep.

I was feeling terrible every day, the dark weather not helping my mood. One night I was having one of my terrible nightmares again and a thunderstorm was overhead, the winds were so terrible that our windows flew right open, rain spewing onto Mandy and me.

She screamed, covering her head with her arms, "OH MY GOD!"

About three days later, I saw a news caster on T.V. holding his hat, talking loudly in his microphone, trees bending around him.

"There is a tornado, the biggest one ever spotted in the Hudson valley, just a few miles away from me!" The blonde man in his suite turned and pointed to a massive, dark, twister swirling dangerously on the ground.

The camera zoomed on to it and I shuddered. There was something massively wrong in Olympus and I had to know.

What made everything worse is that I could feel Percy's feelings more frequently. They were frustrated and building up anger. It would flow through me and I would occasionally snap at Mandy or at Grover when we secretly talked. The annoyance at not knowing what was going on would dig at the pit of my stomach. Then, at random times, I would feel overwhelmed with the urge to cry because of missing something. It was strange, as if I was on some major PMS and Chiron would ask me if I was ok. I put it off on the weather, but I knew he thought it was something else.

My father told me that Percy was doing terribly. His grades had slipped to F's. I saw repeatedly that he got kicked out of class and into the hallway. And of course, he would get into fights with Nancy, Mandy, and I.

"You're such a freak!" Nancy shouted at him in the hall when she spotted him mumbling to himself.

Suddenly, I could feel his anger welling up inside my chest.

"Shut up, Bobofit!" He yelled back at her, his eyes flashing.

"Make me!" She taunted and he pushed her.

The anger was pilling and I had to let it out. I had to get it out of my system.

"Stop being such a jerk, Percy!" I screamed and pushed him back.

"How about you stop being such a brat!" He taunted back and shoved me.

"Now, now children, get to class," It was Chiron and he was looking at me worriedly.

The anger faded and I felt extremely light headed. I shook my head and blinked.

I turned and walked with Nancy's group and glanced over at Percy to see he was glaring at me.

It was unbelievable how strong his emotions were. Maybe, because they were mixed with mine, they were even stronger. I couldn't imagine a single boy holding such frustration. That's not even the worst thing that happened.

I was in English class and Percy's anger was just starting to burn in my body when Mr. Nicoll asked him why was Percy was too lazy to study for his spelling tests for the hundredth time. I could feel something in Percy snap and he suddenly stood up, his eyes smoldering.

"You're just an old sot!" He shouted and Mr. Nicoll glared dangerously at him.

"Out into the hall, Mr. Jackson. I shall talk to the headmaster about this." The teacher said and Percy trudged out.

I knew that that was the last straw that Yancy academy had for Percy Jackson. He would not be coming back next year and I knew that he knew that too, although he acted like he didn't care. But at nights, when I laid wide awake, afraid of facing those nightmares again, I would feel pure sadness and disappointment well into my gut. Percy was sorry about getting kicked out and was disappointed that he hadn't tried harder. I remember wishing I understood Percy better. At that point, I wished that I could stop. It was so hard, feeling the emotions of someone else, and it also felt so intrusive. I was so tired and worn out every day, feeling weaker and weaker every time Percy's emotions flared up. I couldn't control it and it was sucking the life of me.

Still, I stayed up late, studying for my exams, knowing that Chiron would want me to do my best on them anyways. But, after being so tired and having emotions flow through me, the words just blurred on the page and the letters mixed themselves. Sometimes, I would get so frustrated that I would throw my book onto the floor and cry into my pillow. Why was everything so miserable?

Chiron was so worried that he called a meeting with Grover and me the night before the exams.

I waited for Mandy's breathing to become deep and even before I tip-toed out of my bed, setting my math book down on my nightstand. I padded across the floor, but froze when I heard Mandy speak.

"Oh, Jerry…" she mumbled and then smiled, hugging her pillow.

I rolled my eyes and continued my way towards the door. I pulled it open and prayed to the gods for it not to squeak. When there was a space big enough for me to slip through, I took my chance and stepped into the hallway. I gave a breath of relief when I saw that there was no one patrolling the hallways. I started to run, envisioning the route to my father's office in my head. In no time at all, I had made it to the staffroom hall. I saw the plaque on the door and tried my hardest to read it in the moonlight.

Once the letters stopped shifting, I made out, 'Professor Brunner'

I reached for the handle when I heard a familiar voice call out to me.

"Callista!" It was Grover and he was trying to run, still in his human clothes.

"Shhh! Grover, you ready?" I asked as he came closer.

"Ya, let's go," Grover said and we opened the door, shutting it behind us.

"Hello, Grover, Callista, take a seat." My father looked up from his desk. He was in his centaur form, "Now, Callista, please tell me what has been going on with you. Fighting with Percy? That doesn't seem like you."

"Father, I'm sorry. I've been lying to you," I told him, shame coating my voice, "I have found a new power I have. I can feel other people's emotions, but right now I can only feel Percy's."

"I was afraid of this," He shook his head and trotted over to me.

"Afriad of what?" I asked.

"Your powers coming through. We don't know who your god parents still is, Callista. What if your powers are dangerous?" He explained and I bowed my head.

"It just tires me so much. To feel his frustration, his disappointment, his anger." My voice was weary as I thought back to it, "It drains me and I can't control it. And when he did that thing at the fountain, it was…agony," My voice wobbled as I recalled the feeling, "How do I make it stop?"

I looked up at him with hopeful eyes, but he just stared at me with worried ones.

"I haven't heard of this power coming through this potent. All I can tell you is try to block it out when it comes, Callista. Somehow, you can only feel Percy's feelings. I don't know why that is, but I'm sure there is a reason." He told me and my head perked up.

"You've heard of it before?" I asked.

"Yes," Was all he told me and I knew he wouldn't tell me where. Instead, I asked him another question.

"What's happening in Olympus?"

Chiron heaved a sigh, "You will find out in time," He then turned to Grover before I could protest, "What do you think about Percy, Grover? You are his best friend."

I felt wonder jab at the bottom of my stomach and I hurriedly tried to push it back. This was no time to start feeling Percy's emotions!

"I'm worried about Percy, sir." Grover told him with sad eyes.

"I am too, everything that he's feeling is not right for a boy his age," I said and the wonder increased.

_Stop it! _I screamed in my head and there was a sudden tugging in my stomach and the emotion washed away. Although I was happy I wasn't feeling Percy's emotions, I felt even worse than what happened after Percy's emotions faded away from me. I slightly slumped in the seat, but my father was watching Grover.

"He's learning who he is! What happens if something finds him? It's crazy to have him alone this summer," Grover explained, "I mean, a Kindly One in the _school_! Now that we know for sure, and _they _know too-"

"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," My father said wearily, "We need the boy to mature more."

"Father! Percy needs to know that he is-" I started to protest, but he cut me off.

"Callista! No, he must not know." Chiron looked directly into my eyes, warning me that he knew when I used my persuasion.

I slumped in my seat, pouting. Percy had to know. He was old enough! He was my age! I lived my whole life knowing I was a demigod. Why couldn't he know? _You wish that you lived a more simple life. Chiron just wants him to have much of that as he can until Percy has to find out. _My mind was irritating.

"But he may not have the time. The summer solstice deadline-" Grover was saying and I wondered. What summer solstice deadline?

"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can." My father gave Grover a look and I suspiciously glanced at my father.

The summer solstice deadline probably had to do with what was happening in Olympus.

"Chiron, he _knows_ though. He saw me and you there and _her_. He's just getting more frustrated over it every day! This is not helping him!" I cried, but my father was still calm, as always.

"He will learn over time that it was his imagination," Chiron said, "The Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince him of that."

"Sir, I… I can't fail my duties again," Grover's eyes were watery and I felt sorry for him, a pang of sorrow running through my chest. He never did forgive himself with what happened with Thalia. I bowed my head. "You know what that would mean."

"You haven't failed, Grover," My father's voice was soft and his eyes kind as he put a hand on Grover's shoulder, "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"

I suddenly heard a thud come from outside the door. I stiffened at the thought of what I may be. A monster? A staff member? Maybe…Percy?

My father slowly walked over to the door of his office, his hoofs thudding on the floor. He brought out his bow and signaled for us to be quiet and stay here. I was holding my breath as he opened the door and slid out.

I glanced over at Grover, completely freaked out. A few seconds later, he returned in the room, a troubled look on his face.

"Nothing," he mumbled to us, but I knew that he smelled someone. I kept my mouth shut, "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."

"What happened at the winter sol-" I was about to ask when Grover nudged me and spoke.

"Mine either. But I could have sworn…" Grover trailed off, probably thinking the same thing I was. Percy was probably listening.

"Go back to your dorms," My father told us, "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."

"Uhg," I groaned, along with Grover.

"Good night, Dad." I went up and hugged him and he smiled against my cheek, his beard scratchy. I heard Grover leave.

"Good night, Callista." He said, love in his voice and my heart tugged.

I felt so protected in his arms. They were warm and I missed the feeling after having two miserable, angry months. I wondered how bad it must have been for Percy and immediately felt bad. I pulled back from my dad and he looked down at me.

"I'll tell you everything in time," He told me, his way of saying sorry.

"Are you trying to protect me too?" I asked and he gave me a small, sad smile.

"Of course. Now, get to bed." He said and I turned, quietly opening the door.

I immediately felt confusion bubble in my gut and I turned to the door that was ajar at the end of the hall. Somehow, I knew it was Percy.

"I'm sorry, Percy." I stared at the door, pity eating at me.

I then lightly walked down the hall and up the stairs, going to my dorm. I was going to have a long day tomorrow.

My dream that night was strange.

_A dove was circling above a horse. They were both playful, happy with each other. The sea lightly rolled up to the sand, the waves splashing the background. The sun was bright and it seemed like a perfect moment, despite them being two unlikely animals that would be together. _

_Suddenly, the sky grey dark and the waves started to roar, becoming angry. There was a large bang in the air and the horse fell, crying out in pain as he hit the dirt. The dove landed beside it and I could just feel that it was sad. _

_At that moment, I felt like this was important, but I didn't know why._

I woke up with a small gasp and Mandy was still sleeping. My head was spinning and I was wondering why my dream was of something so strange. I tried to push it aside and closed my eyes again.

It was a hot, smoldering day and we were taking exams. Right now, I was sitting in my seat in Latin class, bubbling in letters and writing answers as best as I could, sweating profoundly in the stuffy room. It was the afternoon and the sun was beating down on me from the window.

Suddenly, I heard a scarping of a chair on the tile and I looked up to see Percy walking over to my father's desk, exam in hand. He set each paper in its rightful pile and turned to leave, his eyes reaching mine. I gave him a blank stare and I suddenly heard my father's voice.

"Percy, can you come over here for a second?"

I started to worry. What was my father going to tell Percy?

Percy looked over at Chiron with confused eyes and then turned, walking up to his desk.

"Yes, Mr. Brunner?" Percy asked.

"Percy," My father said slowly, "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's… it's for the best."

Chiron was speaking quietly, but I knew that everyone could hear. I saw Percy blush and I was a little angry at my father. Couldn't he do this somewhere else? At a different time? At least he could have used better words.

I could see Nancy out of the corner of my eye smiling deviously at Percy and then making a kissy face, as if to say 'bye Percy'. I was getting angrier with my dad. I knew it was just my anger and not Percy's. I was feeling protective and I didn't want anyone embarrassing Percy, not when he was going through so much.

"Okay, sir," Percy murmured and I stared at him sadly.

"I mean…" My father was struggling to find the right words, "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."

Percy dropped his head lower. My father was choosing all the wrong words and I shook my head. He was making everything worse.

"Right," Percy said and I heard his voice crack.

"No, no," Chiron was getting frustrated at himself, "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say… you're not normal, Percy. That's nothing to be-"

"Thanks," Percy exclaimed, "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me."

"Percy-" My father looked up at him with sad eyes, but Percy was already running form the room.

I hurriedly shoved my chair back and brought my test up to the front, glaring at my father. I leaned into his ear.

"Nice job, dad. Not telling him is really the way," I hissed sarcastically and hurried out the door, looking down the halls for Percy.

I spotted his hunched over form fast walking around a corner.

"Percy!" I cried, sprinting up to him.

I put an arm on his shoulder and he roughly shook it off.

"Percy…" I said again and he span around at me, furious.

"What do you want Callista? Here to taunt me about me leaving?" He snarled and I saw that his eyes were red.

I heaved a sigh, "No."

"Then what are you here for?" He asked, fuming.

"I'm here to tell you that what my- Mr. Brunner said was true. You're special, Percy, you just don't know it you just don't know it yet." I reached out for him again, but he flinched back.

"Did Nancy put you up to this?" He spat, looking at me skeptically.

"No! Percy!" I grabbed both of his shoulders, "I know you were there that night. You're not going crazy."

I stared into his sea green eyes and they were freaked out, "W-what?"

"That's all I can tell you, I'm sorry," I then ran away from him, but I could hear his sneakers pound on the ground after me.

"Callista! Wait!"

But I was already gone.

It was now the last day of the term and I was happy to finally get out of this dreaded place. I wouldn't ever have to see it again. I had been avoiding Percy for the past few days, walking away whenever he tried to talk to me and I joined in whenever Nancy teased him. He would always give me a knowing glance though and I would look away, feeling sorry.

I would sometimes catch up with Grover and ask him some things.

"How is Percy holding up?" I asked him on the last day, dragging my luggage with me.

"He's doing alright, better than he was before. You still feeling his emotions?" He was lugging his own bag, a little nervous.

I sighed, "Ya, just a little bit. I try to push it back, but it still drains me," I told him, knowing that my eyes had bags under them.

"Do you know what he's feeling right now?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I still can't really control it. Do you know of any gods or goddesses with this power?" I asked him and he looked away.

"N-no," He stuttered, "Psh, why would I?"

"Grover, you suck at lying," I stared at him.

"Chiron has forbidden me from telling you," Grover hung his head in shame, knowing at his shirt collar and anger flamed up in my stomach.

"He's always hiding things from me! 'For my own good'!" I threw my hands up in the air, halting in the middle of the hallway.

"Calli, he really is thinking about you. He's not sure if your parent really is that god, but he's investigating. He's not going to tell you till he's positive," He laid a hand on my shoulder.

"You're right," I took a deep breath, "I just wish I wasn't left in the dark so much. I don't even know why Chiron specifically came here for Percy."

Grover looked at me with sad eyes, "He'll tell you soon, but right now we have to get to the Greyhound bus."

"See ya on the bus, Grover," I said and pulled away from him when I saw Nancy and Mandy.

"Oh, I'm going to miss you, Calli!"Mandy screamed and tackled me with a hug.

"I'll miss you too," I lied and reluctantly wrapped my arms around her.

"Calli, what are you doing this summer?" Nancy asked, a hello kitty bag holding all of her things.

"I'm going to summer camp," I simply told them.

"Really? Don't your parents want you home for the summer?" Nancy asked and the comment jabbed at my chest.

"They're busy," I sharply said and Nancy raised her hands.

"No need to get so defensive, Calli. Sheesh. Well, Mandy and I are going on a private jet to my house in Hawii. Bye!" She called out to me and grabbed Mandy hands, running down the steps.

I sighed and got onto the bus.

I was sitting in the very back of the bus, but my enchanted demigod hearing could hear everything that Grover and Percy said. They were in the front of the bus, heading into the heart of Manhattan. Every so often, Grover would look over at me, basically asking if there were any monsters on the bus. I would shake my head no and he would go back staring through the windshield. Grover was completely blowing his cover, fidgeting and chewing on his shirt.

Finally, Percy spoke.

"Looking for Kindly Ones?" I almost jumped out of my seat.

He was listening that night.

"Wha- what do you mean?" Grover lied, his eyes flickering everywhere.

"I was there that night you, Calli, and Mr. Brunner were talking in his office. What's going on?" Percy demanded.

He wasn't the only one who wanted to know.

"How much did you hear?" Grover asked, twitching.

"Oh… not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?" Percy asked and I gave a sigh of relief.

Percy didn't hear about me knowing his emotions. That was good.

"Look, Percy… I was just worried for you, see?" Grover lamely came up with an excuse, "I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers..."

"Gover-"

"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and…"

Percy then just spoke what I was exactly thinking.

"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar."

Grover then started to blush and reached into his breast pocket, "Just take this, okay?" I saw that it was a tattered piece of paper, a business card, "In case you need me this summer."

I slowly got up and hopped seat from seat until I was right behind Percy and Grover.

"What's Half-" Percy began to ask when Grover interrupted him.

"Don't say it aloud!" Grover cried, "That's my, um… summer address."

"Okay," I heard sadness in Percy's voice, "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."

Grover shook his head and then spotted me eavesdropping on them, "Or… or if you need me."

"Why would I need you?" Percy snapped.

I saw Grover's face turn red and he gulped, "Look, Percy, truth is, I- I kind of have to protect you."

"You're not the only one." I said aloud and both boys turned to look at me.

"Callista? What are you doing here?" Percy asked, completely confused, "Protect me?"

"Well, I'm here to go home. Grover, be careful about what you say, my father won't be too happy with you." I warned him and Percy looked puzzled as ever.

"Wait, say what? What are you two protecting me from?" Percy asked used and suddenly, there was a crunching noise from the front of the bus.

I watched as dark smoke curled above the dashboard and a revolting, sewer smell filled the whole bus, making me gag. I watch the bus driver mumble profanities and turn his steering wheel so we could stop at the edge of the road. The driver clambered outside, lifting up the hood and smoke wafted out into his face. He started to have a coughing fit and called us outside.

I followed Grover, feeling worried. This was not normal. I noticed we were in the middle of nowhere, fields of clover, daisies, and teff tiffany surrounding. Large maple trees were scattered everywhere and I felt a chill go up my spine. It seemed the perfect place for monsters to attack us. Just a few mere mortals were with us and Percy's and I's demigod smell would sure enough attract something. It was like suicide stopping at a place like this.

There was a mirage rising off the hot asphalt highway, but I could see what was across perfectly. My blood turned to ice.

There looked to be an old, plain fruit stand. Boxes filled to the brim with bright scarlet cherries, golden plump apples, and assortment of nuts and in a large old fashioned tub were gallon jugs of sparkling apple cider, nestled in pounds of ice. Behind the large table were three old ladies. They looked harmless, knitting like grandmas.

Surely Percy noticed that they weren't normal. It was obvious by the fact that they were knitting these frikin' humungous socks. Socks that could fit giants. I would know. One on each side were knitting them and the one in the middle was holding a huge basket of baby blue yarn. This couldn't be happening! No, why were we here?

The worse thing of all is that they were staring right at Percy.

"Percy, they're not staring at you, right?" I pleaded to him and he looked at me funny.

"Relax. What's the problem? Do you think those sock would fit me?" Percy joked, but I continued to look at him grimly.

Grover's shirt collar was practically gone by this point.

"Not funny, Percy. Not funny at all." Grover told him solemnly, face pale. Probably just as pale as mine.

My glance flicker back to the old ladies and I could feel my hands trembling. Their eyes were completely locked onto Percy's and I couldn't stand it. That's when I saw the middle one take out a rather large pair of golden scissors. I clutched Percy's arm.

"We're getting on the bus," Grover ordered Percy, "Come on."

I started to tug on his arm when he said, "What? It's like a thousand degrees in there."

"Percy, let's go. Please," I pleaded him, leaking some of my persuasion into my voice.

He was stubborn though and stayed there.

What's wrong with you Calli?" He looked at me funny and I willed myself to persuade him more.

"Percy, let's go back on the bus. Your legs are tired and you need to sit down," I used my oiliest voice and I saw him blink and shake his head.

I suddenly felt as if someone had stolen all my sleep from the night before and it seemed so hard to stand up. I leaned on Percy a little.

"Callista, what are you talking-" He then looked at me, "Are you ok?"

"Ya, I'm ok." I whispered and looked at the old ladies.

Suddenly, I saw the shriveled old woman in the middle grin and open her golden scissors. She brought them down on the string and I swear I could have fainted. Percy's days were already numbered. The other two gathered up the two socks and began on another set.

There was a large banging from where the driver was and he was clutching a big ball of smoldering metal. I watched the bus roar to life and everyone around me cheered, not noticing what had just happened.

"Darn right," The driver hooted and brought his hat down on the bus, "Everyone back on board."

Percy dragged me back on board and I slumped in between the two guys. I started to break into a cool sweat and Percy looked like he was going to be sick. I could heard Grover's teeth chatter together and I felt so tired…so so tired.

"Grover," Percy said with a slightly frightened tone.

"Yeah?" Grover replied, looking over at Percy.

"What are you not telling me?"

Instead of answering, Grover wiped his head with his sleeve, "Percy, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"

"You mean the old ladies?" Percy asked, confused, "What is it about them, man? They're not like… Mrs. Dodds, are they?"

I knew that Percy knew something was going on and that there was something we weren't telling him. I couldn't bring myself to betray my father and explain it to him and it didn't seem like Grover was going to either.

Grover pursed his lips, "Just tell me what you saw."

"The middle one took out her scissors, and she cut the yarn."

I felt a whole new wave of despair. It was the end, they had marked his ending. Grover closed his eyes and prayed.

"You saw her snip the cord." Grover stated, struggling to keep control.

"Yeah. So?" Percy asked as if it wasn't a big deal. It certainly was.

"This is not happening," Grover murmured and I saw him knaw on his thumb nail, "I don't want this to be like last time."

"What last time?" Percy asked, but I knew, for once, exactly what Grover was talking about.

My chest felt like someone threw a huge boulder on it at the thought.

"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth." Grover mumbled and I could feel my eye lids getting heavy.

"Grover," Percy asked in a somewhat panicked voice, "What are you talking about?"

"Let me walk you home from the bus station. Promise me." Grover pleaded and I tried to say something.

"Promise him," I used the last of my persuasion that I could.

Percy nodded.

I could barely keep my eyes open.

"Is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked and no one answered, "Grover- that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"

I suddenly plunged into darkness, my exhaustion taking over, but I had one last thought.

_Yes, someone is going to die. That someone is you, Percy._


	3. Chapter 3: Stalking the Demigod

Lonely Beauty: Book One

Chapter Three: Stalking the Demigod

By Liz

"_Callista…" A soft, soothing voice called out to me. _

"_Who are you?" I whispered out to the white fog around me._

"_Oh, my little Callista…" She called out again, her tone gentle and full of sorrow._

_I started waving through the mist around me, hurriedly searching for the voice, "Mom?" I asked out into the smoke._

"_My darling, I'm so sorry…" _

_Suddenly, sky blue eyes pierced through haze and I stumbled back. Those were my eyes. They started to fade away._

"_No, come back! Who are you!" I cried, my arms struggling to grab something._

_My fingers didn't touch anything. She was gone._

"Callista! Wake up!" Grover's voice yelled at me.

"Mhmmmph. What?" I grumbled, rubbing my eyes.

"We're at the terminal," Percy told me and I lifted my head, realizing that I was sleeping on his shoulder.

I blushed slightly and heard Grover make a strange noise.

"Ok, Callista, keep an eye on Percy. Percy, promise me you'll wait for me ok? I have to go to the bathroom!" Grover was fidgeting and I sighed. This always happened when he got nervous.

"Sure, Grover." I told him and started to get up, stretching.

"Ya, I promise, Grover." Percy said, but I eyed him wearily.

We gathered our bags and filed out of the bus, people pushing and shoving to get off. I heaved my luggage over my shoulder and waited for both Grover and Percy to make it off. Grover was basically jumping and I was worried that he was going to wet himself.

Once he reached the cement, he walked as quickly as he could over to the bathroom and I shook my head at him. I yawned, still feeling tired. I glanced over at Percy and he was standing in front of me.

"So, uh, hi." I nervously said, rubbing my arm.

"Why are you being nice to me?" Percy asked me, plopping onto the bench next to us and I sighed.

"I don't want to be mean to you," I told him, simply, staring at his bag, which was a dark green. That was safe enough to tell him, right?

"Psh, ya right. What about all those times you teased me with Nancy, or when you shoved me in the hallway?" He said, his expression disbelieving.

"I had to do it," I explained, but he still stared at me weirdly.

"You had to?" He asked.

I looked away and spotted a stand selling jumbo pretzels and melted cheese. My stomach grumbled.

"Hey, I'm going to get a pretzel, you stay right here, ok?" I asked him and he nodded.

There was an uneasy feeling in my stomach, but I dropped my bag and pushed my way through the mass of people. Soon enough, I made it to the pretzel stand.

"Um, one pretzel and a cup of cheese, please," I asked the old fat man behind the counter.

He heaved a sigh, using wax paper to pick up a warm pretzel and pressed a button on the cheese dispenser, the sauce coming out with a plop into the cup. He lazily dropped the food in front of me and grimaced. He could have been more polite. He then wiped his nose with his sleeve.

"That would be, uh, five dollars." He told me with a crackly voice and I took out a five dollar bill, grateful that I exchanged some money at the bank for mortal money.

I grabbed the two items and made my way to Percy's and my bench. I ripped a piece of the soft pretzel off, dipping it into the cheese and taking a bit. I smiled at the salty taste and my tummy thanked me. When I sighted the bench though, I felt as if I was going to puke what I just ate. The seat was empty, with only my duffle bag next to it.

Percy was gone.

The cheese and pretzel fell from my hands and I felt the burning sauce splatter onto my leg and a few people complain.

"Hey, whatcha doing?"

I wasn't listening though. I was hurriedly searching around, knowing that Grover was going to kill me. There were many people in business suits and brief cases speed walking, a cell phone clamped to their ear. I was starting to completely hyperventilate when I spotted a bobbing black haired head weaving through the crowd and I recognized Percy's luggage. Gotcha! I quickly snatched my bag and started to sprint through the people, in Percy's direction.

"Watch where you're going!" A woman snapped at me when I shoved her aside.

I didn't bother apologizing when I watched Percy whistle for a taxi. I wasn't going to make it. I was going to lose him! When I finally reached the side walk, I saw Percy slid into the bright yellow car and pull into traffic. I was breathing hard, but I started to crazily wave my arms, screaming, "TAXI! TAXI!"

A car squealed next to me, "What's going on ma'am?" The driver asked but I just pulled the door open and slammed it closed.

"Follow that taxi!" I pointed right in the one with Percy in it.

"The one with the kid in the back?" He questioned and I nodded hurriedly.

"Yes!"

He then slid into traffic and I leaned back in my seat, clutching my chest, huffing.

"You ok, girl?" The driver had a face that would make you think he was an average guy and I tried to relax.

"Ya, I am." I kept my eyes trained on Percy's car.

I could just imagine what Grover was doing right now. He was probably freaking out, swearing in ancient Greek at the sight of both Percy and I gone. The driver kept up with Percy's car, despite the heavy traffic. My breathing started to calm down and I started chanting 'It's okay, I know where he is,' in my head. Soon, I saw the car start to slow down in front of an apartment complex and Percy got out.

"You can let me off here," I told the man and smiled at him, "Thank you for the ride."

He looked dazzled, "Oh, you're welcome, ma'am. No charge."

"Really? Thanks again." I told him and slid of out the car, feeling ashamed that I hadn't paid him.

He zoomed off and I looked up at the tall building about a hundred feet in front of me. It looked worn down, cracks in the graffiti walls. Trash littered the side walk in front of it and I couldn't help but wonder 'Percy lives _here_?' Despite the heavy feeling in my legs, I started to jog up the sidewalk and go around the building, hoping that I would reach the right room by using the fire escape.

I began to climb, feeling like a dirty stalker when I looked through each window. A few of them contained old people that were just sitting in front of their t.v.'s, staring blankly at the screen. Some were occupied by college kids, probably not able to afford a better place. When I thought I was never going to find them, I heard Percy's voice.

"Where's my mom?"

My heart filled with hope and I began taking the stairs two at a time, reaching an open window in no time.

I looked into the room and immediately covered my nose. A pungent aroma of sickly sweet cigar smoke and garlic wafted out of room, causing me to almost gag. The room was small, about one fourth the size of my cabin at camp and that was saying something.

"Working," a man in a chair too small for him said, "you got any cash?"

I had to take a double take. This _couldn't _be Percy's stepfather. He had a pot belly that was so big that it looked like someone shoved a bean bag up his shirt. He had a second chin with unkempt stubble and I couldn't help but think he resembled a walrus, but that would be an insult to walruses. He had next to no hair, except a few strands, which were brushed over as if it would cover his chrome dome. He was wearing a stained yellow muscle tank that stretched as far as it could around his mid section and a pair of cut off jeans that were covered with only the gods knew what. His eyes were duller than a history channel marathon and he was clutching playing cards in his grubby hands, poker chips spewed on the table, another guy sitting across from him, two beer bottles on each side. _This _is what Percy's mother married? No way.

"I don't have any cash," Percy answered coldly and tried to walk away, but his stepfather glared at him.

"You took a taxi from the bus station," The fat lard stated, "Probably paid with a twenty. Got six, seven bucks in change. Somebody expects to live under this roof, he ought to carry his own weight. Am I right, Eddie?"

I glowered at the man, despising him already. He was a self conceited pig, that much I could tell by what I saw. He flicked is glance over to the guy across the table, awaiting an answer.

The man looked a little nervous at his scrutiny and gave Percy a look of pity, "Come on, Gabe. The kid just got here."

Gabe. That was his name. That didn't fit him at all. Gabrielle was an angel. This Gabe was _no _angel.

"Am I _right_?" Gabe pressed and I clenched my teeth.

The Eddie guy just stared at the bowl of pretzels in front of him, refusing to answer. Suddenly I heard two farts at the same time and I scrunched up my nose. What pigs! Anger started to burn in the pit of my stomach. Oh no, Percy, stop it. The feeling didn't leave.

"Fine," Percy snapped, shoving his hand into his pocket and tossing the money onto the table, "I hope you lose." And then stiffly stomped over to a door.

"Your report card came, brain boy," Gabe taunted after him, "I wouldn't act so snooty!"

I heard a slam and the walls shook. I crawled a little further down the walk way, aware that the sun was hot on my back, despite the fact it was about seven o'clock. I peeked in through the next room to see Percy looking at his room, absolutely disgusted.

I looked down to see a pair of crusty, dirty work boots on the sill and I scrunched up my nose. These certainly weren't Percy's. Magazines with cars on them littered the floor and I knew that Percy's step father must have been using his room since he was at boarding school. I felt a pang for sympathy for him and knew that with everything going on, his life was probably hell.

I thought back to my little space back at camp and felt lonely. I missed everyone who was in my cabin, despite it being the Hermes cabin. I missed the Stoll brothers and Luke. They could brighten everyone's day and I smiled at the memory. I haven't seen them since last summer, which was a very long time to me. My memory of the whole camp was slightly fuzzy, but I could still recall the sweet smell of strawberries during the summer.

Percy threw his suitcase onto his bed and looked around, his expression telling me his was thinking. I could feel his bitterness flow throughout my own body, but I tried my best to ignore it. What could he be thinking about? His mom? How stupid Gabe was? What Grover and I weren't telling him? I thought back to when Percy and I were watching those…those creatures cut the string. Could Percy die soon? I felt a chill go up my spine, but it wasn't mine, it was Percy's.

Percy's face turned a shade paler and he was looking around his room as if someone was watching him. I hurriedly ducked from the window. That someone was me. Suddenly, I heard a kind voice.

"Percy?" It was a motherly voice and I immediately felt Percy's mood change into… joy.

It felt so weird that such an emotion was coming from him. I realized that I never felt it from him before. I slowly raised my head and I spotted a woman I've only seen in a picture stand in Percy's door well, his mother.

I fixated my gaze on her, noticing how much more lively and cheerful she looked in person. The way she walked, it just seemed as if I had been freezing and she was a warm fire. The way she stared at Percy, like he was the most precious thing in the world, which he probably was in her world. I started to feel my chest tighten up and my eyes sting. What would it be like? To look into my mother's eyes and see that love in them, to feel like I was… wanted. _You have Chiron. He's not my father._ I sat down and clutched my knees to my chest, my head still high enough to see what was inside.

Mrs. Jackson was a fairly pretty woman, but her eyes had to be her best feature. They glittered in the sunlight and every time she moved, I saw a different color show up in them. Blues, greens, golds… they were all there, swirling in her irises. Her smile was genuine, but not perfect, which probably made all more the welcoming. There were a few wrinkles around her eyes and a few strands of gray hair mingled with her natural brown, showing her true age, but I couldn't imagine her as an old lady. She looked so kind, so warm, my heart felt like it was being squeezed.

Was my mother just as welcoming as her? Was she a mortal too and did she have a home to go to, missing me? If I found her, would she rush to me and give me a welcoming hug? What if she was a goddess? Which one would she be? And if she was a goddess… why hadn't she claimed me yet? My eyes started to sting, but Percy's joy helped me rein the tears back. I couldn't fall into a blubbering mess now, I had to listen and learn what Percy was doing.

She walked hurriedly over to her son, wrapping her arms around him in a hug, "Oh, Percy," she cried, "You've grown since Christmas!"

She was wearing a strange dress that had red, white, and blue stripes on it. I could barely make it out, but the emblem on her chest said in blue block letters Sweet-On-America. She worked at a candy factory, I realized. A bag was clutched in her hand and I gave a sad smile, they were probably candies from her work. She leaned back from Percy and opened it, pulling out all this blue candy. Whether they were jelly beans, licorice, or gummy bears, they were blue.

I watched him smile up at her, his eyes shining as she ran her hands through his hair. I suddenly started to feel angry. Why did Percy have a parent to gush over him and ask if he was ok when I didn't? Why was I abandoned at Camp Half Blood, never to live a normal life? Didn't I deserve to have parents who would love me and give me hugs and say 'Oh, Callista, how was your day?' What did I do to deserve to be parentless?

I crumpled, letting all my sadness over the years devour me. Tears started to spill and I leaned my head on the rusty fire escape. My breathing became ragged and I started to tremble. Why was I left alone? Chiron could never act like a true father to me, he had a whole camp full of demigods to care for. No matter how hard he tried, he would never be my parent. But, I know I at least have one parents out there, watching me right now. Were they laughing at how miserable I was? Was it funny to them that I was crying about them and they didn't love me? I clamped my lips shut, feeling sobs well in my chest, but I couldn't let them out. What if Percy found me crying outside his window? I cracked a smile, picturing the stunned and awkward expression that would be on his face. His mother would probably rush to me and calm me down, as if I was her daughter. It seemed tempting, but I pushed myself up, looking through the window again.

"Mom, you're smothering me," I heard Percy tell her, pushing her away a little, but there was a smile on his face.

"Oh, Percy, I just want to know how everything has been," She said, her eyes staring adoringly at him.

Suddenly, a grubby voice called out to them, somewhat muted from the walls, "Hey, Sally- how about some bean dip, huh?"

I felt a surge of anger from Percy, but it soon flowed away.

"How was your time at Yancy, Percy?" Mrs. Jackson asked and Percy started on the tale.

He made it sound as if it wasn't pure torture. He said he made a few new friends and that Latin class was actually fun. The fights he was in weren't actually that terrible. He told her he liked Yancy Academy, he really did. The problem was, I knew the truth. He was miserable there. He hated it with all his heart and he was somewhat happy he wasn't returning. Although, I knew he would miss Grover. Would he miss…me? I shook my head and his emotions rapidly changed to wonder.

"What?" His mother asked him, her eyes boring into his, "Did something scare you?"

"No, Mom."

I gaped. If I had a mother, I wouldn't lie to her. I would tell her everything and be grateful that she was listening. How could Percy just… forget how lucky he truly was? Why didn't he tell her about the Kindly One or the Fates? Because he thought he was going crazy. Right.

I could tell that Percy's mom knew something was going on, but she grinned at him instead.

"I have a surprise for you," She told him and his eyes lit up, "We're going to the beach."

He perked up, "Montauk?"

She nodded, "Three night- same cabin."

I sat there, completely confused. What was so important about this beach?

"When?" He asked, completely ecstatic.

"As soon as I get changed," She said, her grin growing larger.

That's when the walrus himself emerged in the doorway, grimacing.

"Bean dip, Sally? Didn't you hear me?" He rumbled.

Percy's anger flared up and it was so strong, I started to feel dizzy. All these emotions switching back and forth were really taking a toll on me. I haven't cried for the longest time, but I decided to now. I hadn't felt so angry until I went to Yancy. What was wrong with me?

Mrs. Jackson sent Percy a warning glance and I knew he understood. She then looked back at Gabe and gave him a smile.

"I was on my way, honey," She said in an innocent voice, "We were just talking about the trip."

Gabe glared, "The trip? You mean you were serious about that?"

I could see Percy's head fall and my acute hearing barely picked up what he said, "I knew it. He won't let us go."

Percy's mother continued to smile, using a honey sweet voice, "Of course he will. Your step father is just worried about money. That's all. Besides," She was now looking at Gabe, her tone persuading, "Gabriel won't have to settle for bean dip. I'll make him enough seven-layer dip for the whole weekend. Guacamole. Sour cream. The works."

I saw Gabe's expression loosen a little, "So this money for your trip… it comes out of your clothes budget, right?"

Percy's anger surged through my system and I closed my eyes, trying to concentrate. _Get out!_ I yelled in my head, but the feelings remained. I sighed, feeling drained and decided to try again. _Out! Now! _Suddenly, it felt as if someone flushed them down a toilet and I was free, somewhat. I felt so dizzy, the world began to spin, but tried I focused on hearing what they were saying.

"Yes, honey," Mrs. Jackson replied.

"And you won't take my car anywhere but there and back." He stated more than asked.

"We'll be very careful," Her voice sounded so pure, I don't know how he could refuse. I clutched my head and watched as the people in the room finally stood still and I gave a sigh of relief.

I watched Gabe scratch his second chin and a few white flecks flew into the air, "Maybe if you hurry with the seven-layer dip… And maybe if the kid apologizes for interrupting my poker game."

Percy's anger tried to overwhelm me again, but I shoved it back, fighting to stay in control. Stop it, Percy! I clutched the sill, heavily leaning on it. My breathing was hoarse and it was so hard to fight, but it would be even worse to give up.

Percy's mother shot Percy a look and he sighed, bowing his head.

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "I'm really sorry I interrupted your incredibly important poker game. Please go back to it right now." Sarcasm dripping from his voice.

For a second, I thought Gabe wasn't going to let him go. The fat lard glared and tipped his head, as if contemplating whether he should let him go or not. Finally, he spoke.

"Yeah, whatever," He answered and turned around, walking out the door.

"Thank you, Percy," His mother turned to him, her eyes glowing, "Once we get to Montauk, we'll talk more about… whatever you've forgotten to tell me, okay?"

I knew that it wasn't safe for Percy to be in the same spot for a long time, or in a spot where his smell was everywhere. But, maybe Chiron would be able to protect him better if he was with him. Chiron won't know that Percy is going to Montauk, not unless I tell him. Percy's mom ruffled his hair one last time and left.

I started to climb down the escape, looking for a manhole or a hydrant. My eyes scoured the filthy streets when I finally spotted a red shape coming from the ground, a fire hydrant. I quickly ran over, looking around to see if anyone was looking. The streets were quieter now, but still weren't empty. It probably wasn't that unusual for a kid to break a hydrant though. I grabbed the hilt of my sword and hurriedly sliced it through the air, easily cutting the top part of the hydrant clean off. Water spewed into the sky and started to sprinkle down like rain.

"Come on, come on," I muttered under my breath, waiting for a rainbow.

Finally, in the thin mist, a rainbow appeared where the sun hit it and I struggled to find a drachma, put when I reached into my pockets, my hands came out with only dollar bills. I grumbled in frustration, I had changed all my drachmas for mortal money. How was I going to send Chiron an Iris message without any money? I sighed, walking away before I could get into any trouble.

As I trudged up the fire escape stairs, I figured I had two choices. Number one: Somehow get back to Camp Half Blood and tell Chiron where Percy is and at the same time, risk Percy facing a monster without a weapon, or number two: hide in the trunk and go with Percy.

Guess which one I chose.

So, here I was, in the darkness of a '78 Camaro trunk, praying that they were putting all their luggage in the backseat when I heard their steps getting closer and closer to the car. Also, Gabe's groaning was very audible and his words told me Percy was the one carrying things into the car.

I let out a sigh of relief as I heard the creak of the back door open and the thudding as each bag was thrown into the seats.

"Ugh, what am I supposed to eat this weekend with her gone?" Gabe moaned, "I'm not going to be able to drive anywhere, either, without my beloved car."

I grimaced, my theory on him being a self conceited pig correct in every way. Excuse me, I mean self conceited walrus. I heard a thud on the ceiling of the trunk and guessed that Gabe was probably leaning on it.

"Not a scratch on this car, brain boy," Gabe seethed, "Not one little scratch."

I felt a surge of anger. It wouldn't be Percy's fault if the car got totaled. He was only twelve, how could he drive the car? But something told me that if anything happened, anything at all, Gabe would find out some way to blame poor Percy.

With one last thud, all the bags were in the car. I waited for the car to start moving, but it remained still. Where was Percy? Suddenly, I heard the slam of a door and the surprised cry of Gabe. The car door suddenly shut, shaking the whole car.

"Step on it, Mom," Percy's voice said and I smiled, knowing that Percy had something to do with what happened to Gabe.

I laid my head on a jacket that was left in the trunk and stared into the black that was in front of me, listening distantly to the murmurs of Percy's and his mother's voices. I sighed, feeling a little claustrophobic in the small space. I tried to not think about it and switched my mind to another subject. What was I going to do when I reached Montauk? Where was I going to sleep? I didn't really need a bed, but it sure would be nice to have one. What was I going to do if Percy found me?

I pondered on that for a while, the car shaking me at every pothole in the road. I would tell him everything if he found me, that's what I would do. I frowned, then I would have to make sure I was well hidden. I shifted onto my side, feeling more comfortable and I yawned. Controlling Percy's emotions exhausted me and I slowly closed my eyes.

I woke up to the sudden jolt of the car and my face slammed into the slightly padded back of the trunk.

"Owww…" I muttered, rubbing my nose.

I heard the slamming of car doors and the groans of lifting bags, but the noise soon died away and I sighed. Now, how do I get out of here? It was completely dark, but I started to pat the walls of the car, hoping there was an emergency button. Soon enough, my fingers touch a smooth surface and I put pressure on it, hearing the trunk door click. Success! I hurriedly pushed it up and jumped out, looking to see if Percy and his mom were back outside yet. The coast was clear, so I shut the trunk and started sprinting away from the cabin, towards the water.

I soon reached the shore, hidden behind a sand dune, out of sight. I slowly laid myself down on the sun baked sand and looked over my shoulder, over at the small cabin. I had to say, it was cute, a place where I would live alone. It was a light yellow box with a few windows, the roof flat and the same color as the walls. It seemed to be sinking into the sand dunes, but it just gave it a more private look, which I admired. I loved the beach and although, being in the city did give me a new experience, I longed to be by the water. I sighed, rolling my head so I could look out into the horizon.

The navy blue sea was calm, green light glittering of the crests of the small waves. The sun was dipping low into the sky, a fiery red ball, completely contrasting with the mellow colors of the sea. The clouds were turning a dainty fluorescent pink and the sky a vibrant orange. It seemed strange how such different colors could go together so perfectly.

My mind started to wander to Percy. Why was this place so special to him? This little house by the sea, what made it so important? I reached out my hand to the salt water, but instead of feeling as if I dipped my hand in snow, which I should have, I felt warmth spread throughout me. It reminded me of some of the dreams I had over the years. I would feel strong arms caress me and that same warm feeling would spread through my veins.

I let out a breath of delight and just laid there, letting the last of the sun's rays kiss my skin. I could have laid there for eternity and not care, this is where I belonged. Suddenly, I heard laughing. I slowly pushed myself onto my knees and watched the scene that unfolded before me.

It was Percy and his mother.

"I'll race you!" She yelled and sprinted towards the water.

"You're on!" He shouted back, a large grin on his face.

Sand was being kicked up behind them as they both ran towards the shore. I giggled quietly when I saw Percy almost fall into the freezing water.

"Aw, you beat me!" his mother cried and pulled out a bag of blue corn chips, falling onto the sand.

Percy plopped down next to her, reached into the bag and chucked one into the air. Suddenly, something dipped down and seized it. Only when it came back up did I realize it was a seagull. I started to full out laugh, finding it funny in a way. They stared into the sunset, both talking, munching on the candies his mom brought.

I felt my stomach collapse on itself and grumble. Right then, I wished I hadn't dropped my cheese sauce and pretzel. I shook my head and told myself that if I was ever going to go on a quest, I might have to go under these conditions and might not eat for days.

I watched them giggle and talk about what has been happening with them for the past six months. A tug of longing ate my gut and I wished that I wasn't the snotty Callista Johnson from Yancy Academy. I wished that I could just walk up to them and act like I was here with my family. Family.

That's what everything came down to, my family. I was really sick of it, my mind always coming back to the fact I had no clue who my parents were and Chiron did. Mrs. Jackson had her arm around Percy's shoulders, as if to protect him and he leaned into her, enjoying his time with her. I looked away from the Kodak moment and pressed my hand into the water, wanting to feel protected again.

The warm sensation spread through my fingers again and I started to trace patterns in the sand with my other hand. They were just swirls, all connected in random places and I finally noticed the air growing cooler, the breeze off the sea still temperate. A smoky smell reached my nose and I looked over the dune to see Percy and his mom had made a fire.

I watched her smiling face as she helped Percy keep a hotdog from falling into the fire. She began to tell him stories about her childhood, which I soon found out was ruined by a tragic plane crash which resulted in her parents both dying. She was like me, no parents. I smiled and wondered.

Why did Mrs. Jackson marry such a selfish man? Shouldn't a woman as nice as her be married to a good looking, kind man who made her happy? Obviously, she couldn't have the god that fathered Percy, but she didn't have to stoop down to such low levels. An inkling feeling tugged at the back of my mind, she had another reason for marrying the pig, I know it.

"Percy, I'm going to write a book one day," She sighed, looking into the flames of the fire, "I'll be able to quit my candy job and finally do what I always dreamed of."

I was slightly stunned, she wanted to be an author?

"Well, Mom, if you weren't' with Gabe you probably-" Percy started to argue when his mother cut in.

"Percy, Gabe does so much for you, you just don't know it yet." She gave him a small smile and he stared at her, perplexed.

"Well, I don't see anything that he does except spend all of our money on beer and cigars," He crossed his arms and glared into the fire.

She reached her hand and ran her fingers through his hair, "You'll find out in time."

They were silent for a moment and I felt like an intruder, but my curiosity won. I had to know more about Percy and his mother.

"Mom?" Percy finally spoke.

"Yes, dear?" She murmured.

"What… what was my dad like?" He asked and I watched him look over at his mother worriedly.

I watched her unique eyes cloud over and she continued to brush his hair.

"He was kind, Percy," She told him, slightly smiling, "Tall, handsome, and powerful. But gentle, too. You have his black hair, you know, and his green eyes."

Percy stayed silent, waiting for more. She reached into their candy bag and popped a blueberry jellybean into her mouth, "I wish he could see you, Percy. He would be so proud."

I could tell Percy didn't believe her. But he didn't know the truth. If his father knew how well he coexisted with mortals and how he kill a Kindly One without knowing one thing about sword fighting, he would have been proud. His father probably did know.

"How old was I?" Percy asked, "I mean… when he left?"

Mrs. Jackson continued to stare into the fire, the light flickering on her face, "He was only with me for one summer, Percy. Right here at this beach. This cabin."

I finally realized why this place had such meaning. This was the only place his mother saw his father. This was the place he could be closest to him.

"But… he knew me as a baby." Percy protested.

"No, honey. He knew I was expecting a baby, but he never saw you. He had to leave before you were born." Percy's mom said and Percy seemed to be thinking about something.

It must have been hard, his father never seeing him, not even as a baby. Since Percy probably thought his father was mortal, he probably thought his father was a coward. Leaving before his mother even had him. I suddenly felt Percy's fury and I tried to quench it, not wanting to feel anger anymore. I began to breathe deeply as I pushed back the negative feeling and my head lolled onto the top of the dune, unable to keep itself up as I used a lot of my strength. I could feel the gritty sand dig into my lip, my I just focused on staying awake.

"Are you going to send me away, again?" Percy asked, his voice a little sharper, "To another boarding school?"

I watched hear remove a perfectly done marshmallow from the flames, a contemplating look on her face. It looked as if someone heaved two bags of flour on her shoulders.

"I don't know, honey," she sighed, "I think… I think we'll have to do something."

"Because you don't want me around?" Percy spat, but I knew he didn't want to have it sound like that.

I knew exactly why he had to go somewhere else. Somewhere where the monsters couldn't find him. She wanted to keep him with her, even if it was only the summer. Camp Half Blood was the safest place for him though, I wish she knew that.

Her eyes got shiny and she quickly clutched Percy's hand in hers, "Oh, Percy, no, I-I _have _to, honey. For your own good. I have to send you away."

I could see she wanted Percy to understand, but at the same time she didn't want him to. The more he knew, the worse it would be for him. At that moment, I realized it was stupid of me to come here. My smell was probably attracting all sorts of monsters. I then thought about it a little more and thought about the odds of a monster finding Percy and me here, in the middle of nowhere.

"Because I'm not normal," Percy said to his mom, his tone blank.

"You say that as if it's a bad thing, Percy. But you don't realize how important you are. I thought Yancy Academy would be far enough away. I thought you'd finally be safe." She looked deep into the fire, fighting with herself.

I knew nowhere would be safe for him. He had to come to camp.

"Safe from what?" Percy asked her, confused.

She finally looked over at him and I could tell what Percy was thinking. All those strange things that happened over the years. Things that, yes, Chiron and I knew about. The strange cloaked man in the playground, the snake in his cot when he was four years old. In every school, something happened to Percy. That's why we were here. We knew those things, but I wished to know so much more.

He probably did think he was going crazy. Thinking he kill his pre-algebra teacher named Mrs. Dodds with a pen that turned in to a sword and then everyone acts like she never existed. I would be questioning my sanity too if I were him. He still should tell his mom, she knew everything, but of course, he didn't know that. I wished she could tell him without putting him in danger. It was so unfair, it was really true. The more you knew, the more dangerous things were to people. I learned to except that because knowledge also could make things easier. Like, if Percy knew he was a demigod and knew he wasn't alone, he wouldn't feel like such a lunatic.

"I've tried to keep you as close to me as I could," Mrs. Jackson said and I envied Percy, "They told me that was a mistake," it was, "But there's only one other option, Percy- the palce your father wanted to send you. And I just… I just can't stand to do it."

"My father wanted me to go to a special school?" Percy asked and I knew what was coming next.

"Not a school," she said quietly, "A summer camp."

She said it as if it was the worst thing there ever was. To send Percy to a summer camp, horrible! Although, it would probably be the best thing she could do for Percy.

Percy looked like he was going to pass out. I know, it probably looked bad on his father's side. His dad leaves before he was even born, but says he should go to this summer camp. I know, strange, but that's what happens when you're a demigod.

"I'm sorry, Percy," his mother rushed to apologize, "But I can't talk about it. I-I couldn't send you to that place. It might mean saying good-bye to you for good." Her voice cracked and Percy stared at her, questions swirling in his green eyes.

"For good? But if it's only a summer camp…" He trailed off as she turned away from him and back to the flames.

It looked like if she said anything else, she would crumble to pieces, like glass falling on the ground. They sat in silence and soon enough stamped out the fire and left to go to bed.

I watched the door shut and I sighed. Guess where I was sleeping to night. I began to dig a hole in the side of the dune so I wasn't in plain sight in case a monster did stumble over here. When I was satisfied, I felt like my eye lids were magnets, trying to reach each other and my stomach was empty. I curled up into a ball, getting comfortable in the soft sand, closing my eyes.

_It was so strange what was happening. It seemed impossible._

_A tornado was spinning on top of the ocean, not a hurricane, but a tornado. It was digging down into the sea and the waves seemed to try to smother the whirling force, obviously loosing. I didn't know what to do, what could I do? I just knew it had to stop._

_Suddenly, I was looking into the eye of the tornado. I was hundreds of feet up in the air, but I still could see what was at the bottom of the sea. It was a large, black whole, surrounded by bronze walls. The black seemed to bubbling, like tar. An icy laugh echoed from inside and sent shivers down my spine. Water was being splashed onto me, chilling me to the core. _

_Whatever was holding me up suddenly let go and I was falling into the pit._

"_Fight fools, fight!" The monstrous voice screamed with laughter and I plunged, down, down, down… and a sudden light filled my eyes._

I abruptly woke up, realizing that the light was lightning. I gaped at what I saw, not believing I was actually sleeping through it.

It was a disaster outside, the worse storm I've seen a long time. Rain was cutting into the sea, falling down like bullets and they stung like ice cubes on my skin. Lightning flashed, making it unnaturally light at midnight. My teeth were chattering as I was shivering. Whatever was going on Olympus was bad. I had to get Percy. My limbs felt like led and I struggled to get up when I felt like I was hit by a semi truck.

I was suddenly engulfed in icy water, spinning around and around, fighting to find the ground. It was dark in the water and debris slammed into me as I struggled to hold my breath. When it felt like I wasn't going to make it much longer, I found sand and clutched onto the ground with all my might. Soon enough, the water washed away from the shore, getting ready to slam another wave on the dunes.

I ran as fast as I could towards the small, yellow, cabin, the raindrops blinding me. I stumbled onto the ground, but picked myself up. I had to warn them. They had to get out of here! I reached the door and started to pound.

"Get out!" I screamed as loud as I could, "Get out!"

"Callista!" A familiar voice shouted to me and I turned around to see it was Grover behind me.

I could only tell at the moment because he wasn't wearing his human jeans and shoes.

"Grover! Help me get them out!" I yelled and he started to pound on the door too.

"What are you doing here, Callista?" He huffed, and screamed again for them to open up.

"Long story," I breathed when the door suddenly flung open.

What was in front of me was a shell shocked Percy and a terrified Mrs. Jackson.

"Searching all night," Grover barely spoke, "What were you thinking?"

Mrs. Jackson pulled her eyes away from Grover and over to Percy.

"Percy!" She shouted, "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me!"

Percy didn't respond and just gawked at Grover. I mentally groaned in my head.

"_O Zeu kai alloi theoi!_" Grover cursed and I, by reflex, scrunched my nose. I hated swearing, "It's right behind me! Didn't you _tell_ her?"

Percy still didn't snap out of it and I could tell he was still stunned by what he was seeing. Still, I thought he would be use to weird things happening by know. That's when I brought my hand up and slapped him right across the face.

"Wake up!" I screamed and he blinked.

"_Percy_. Tell me _now!_" I heard Mrs. Jackson say through clenched teeth and that what snapped Percy out of it.

"There we-were these three ladies- fruit stand- snipping yarn. Uhh-uh, Mrs. Dodds- Kindly One- dust!" He stuttered, still not completely in this world.

I saw Mrs. Jackson's face turn ghostly pale when the lightning flashed again. She flew back into the house and came back with a purse and threw a rain coat to Percy.

"Get to the car. All of you. _Go_!" She shouted and clutched Percy's arm, dragging him along.

Adrenaline pumped through my system and I didn't feel tired anymore, but Percy was slowing me down.

"Percy! Come on!" I growled and I tried to catch up to Grover.

"Callista! Get him here! Come on!" Grover called out to me and I hurriedly got over to the Camaro.

Grover, Percy, and I dove through the open door and landed on the dry seats. We had to get out of here.

~( Author's Note)~

Sorry for the wait! Btw, I have an important announcement…well… two actually.

One: I GOT ON THE VOLLEYBALL TEAM! WHOOOOO!

Two: I have another hidden chapter. If you want to see it, please leave a review saying at least one thing I need to fix up on or a suggestion and saying you would like to see the hidden chapter. First one to do it is the first one who gets to see it, capisce?

Thank you for reading ^.^ I love you guys!

-Liz


	4. Chapter 4: Bullfighting is not for Me

Chapter Four: Bullfighting is not for Me

Percy's mother was staring intently out the windshield, her foot pressed down fully on the gas pedal. We were on rural dirt roads where they seemed to be vacant of any life. Despite that fact, I had a very anxious feeling in the pit of my stomach and I couldn't help but keep looking out the back window. I noticed that Grover was jumpy too and kept glimpsing at the review mirror.

The rain was beating against our windows and the visibility outside was nonexistent. Percy's mother was probably just guessing her way along, knowing these roads from many times of visiting that cabin. Lighting tore across the sky and as the white light exposed everyone, I looked over at Percy. I could see his face was completely freaked and he was staring at Grover in particular. He may have doubted his eyes, but the smell of wet fur was undeniable. I had grown accustom to the smell because I'd been around it all my life, but Percy has never seen anything like this. I knew that he should have learned about his origin gradually so he wouldn't have the shock, but that seemed unavoidable now. Besides, I promised that if he saw me, I would tell him everything. Being the coward that I was though, I waited for him to ask a question first.

I could barely see the outline of his face when he finally spoke, "So you guys and my mom… you know each other?"

Grover answered first, "Not exactly. I mean, we've never met in person. But she knew we were watching you."

"We had only seen in her pictures so we knew who we could trust," I added.

"You were watching me?"

"Keeping tabs on you. Making sure you were okay. But I wasn't faking being your friend," Grover added quickly, "I _am _your friend."

"And I had to be the enemy, to get the other side of the story. But that's all it was, just a cover. I don't like being mean to you, Percy." I said, hoping he would understand.

"So in order to keep me safe, you had to tease me?" He asked, resentment in his voice.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. Nancy told me things that my father wouldn't have known otherwise," I tried to make it sound like it was all business but by the look he sent me, he still had a grudge.

"Um…Grover…what are you exactly?" Percy hesitantly asked.

"That doesn't matter right now," Grover answered stiffly.

"Come on, Grover. He's bound to find out sooner or later." I nagged him.

"Oh, it's not important that my friend is a donkey form the waist down!" Percy said.

Grover gave out an annoyed bleat and I rolled my eyes, "Percy, now you've done it."

"Goat!" Grover shouted.

"What?"

"I'm a _goat _from the waist down." Grover explained, indignant.

"That was a very nasty insult. A _donkey!_ Other satyrs would probably trample you for that," I laughed and Grover glared at me.

"Whoa. Wait. Satyrs. You mean like…Mr. Brunner's myths?" Percy asked.

"Were those old ladies at the fruit stand a _myth_, Percy?" Grover's tone showing that he was obviously miffed still, "Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?"

"So you _admit _there was a Mrs. Dodds!" Percy exclaimed.

"Of course there was, Percy. Did you really think you were going insane?" I told him with a small smile.

"Then why-"

"The less you knew, the fewer monsters you'd attract," Grover's tone was lofty; "We put Mist over humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly one was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."

"It also didn't help that Grover couldn't lie to save his life. No offense," I added.

"What do you mean?" I could feel Percy was completely confused and at a time like this, a monster chasing us, the less he knew, the better.

As if to remind us we were in serious danger, a roar from behind us echoed through the storm and I looked behind us worriedly. The monster was still following us.

"Percy," Percy's mother spoke up, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."

"Safety from what? Who's after me?" Percy asked and lightening lit up the car again.

"Oh, nobody much," sarcasm colored Grover's tone, "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."

"Grover!" Percy's mother chastised him.

"Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?" Grover said with a more polite voice and I couldn't believe that the car could go any faster!

Percy's feelings were going wild inside my stomach. His confusion was like nothing else and I could tell he couldn't take much more.

The car took a sharp left and it was farmland as far as I could see through the rain. Large barns with animals tucked inside safely blurred past us at an incredible speed. Corn fields had small stalks in them, seeing as it was the beginning of the season. When we passed a ghostly white sign that said "Pick Your Own Strawberries" I let myself feel some relief. We were almost there.

"Where are you going?" Percy asked.

"The summer camp I told you about," Mrs. Jackson answered. Her voice held some fear, even though it was evident she was trying to be strong, "The place your father wanted to send you."

"The place you didn't want me to go," Percy clarified with some anger in his voice.

"Please, dear. This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger." His mother's voice was pleading, but she never took her eyes off the road.

"Because some old ladies cut some yarn," Percy's tone was dismissive.

"You're not getting it Percy! Those weren't just some old ladies! They were the Fates!" my voice went an octave higher than usual.

"Do you know what it means- the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to… when someone's about to die."

"Whoa. You said 'you'." Percy's eyes got wide.

"No. You misheard him. He said 'someone.'" I said, trying to keep him from freaking from Grover's slip up.

"He said 'you'. As in _me_."

"I meant _you, _like 'someone.' Not you, _you_." Grover argued back.

"_Boys!_" I heard Percy's mom yell as she yank the wheel to the right.

In the corner of my eye I could see a dark shape with large wings. Fear spasmed throughout my body and then the creature disappeared back into the shadows. I felt my face pale. I've always wanted to get out of camp, but I didn't know that we would be facing this!

"What was that?" Percy asked but none of us dared to answer.

"We're almost there," his mother whispered anxiously to herself," Another mile. Please. Please. _Please_."

It was true, I could see the hill up ahead, even if there was a lot of rain. At the speed the car was going, we should have reached it in less than a minute. But it seemed as if time started to slow down, but my mind was still going a million thoughts per a minute.

I always thought that the outside world would be so exciting and more adventurous. But now I'm pretty sure I've had enough excitement for a life time_. If I even live to have a life_. That thought struck me home and caused me to go breathless. I never thought about dying, not through this whole entire trip. I never thought that monsters would find us. In fact, I was expecting the cheesy spy stuff when I heard that Grover and I were going to watch a possible Demigod. Maybe I would blend into the crowd and maybe by some accident I would actually talk this Percy Jackson and we'd be friends. There was no possibility in my mind that I would end up being his personal terror, feel his emotions, and then jump into his step dad's car to make sure he was safe. None of this trip was going as planned.

I looked over at Grover and Percy. It was still pretty dark, but I could see the outline of their profiles. Grover was looking behind us, worry etched into his face and his goat legs stiff in apprehension. Then there was Percy who was just staring out into space his face blank and his mind working. I guess I should have expected this since he had just gotten all this information about our world. He still didn't know he was a demigod or anything, but now he knew about monsters. He probably should have been told the other way around, but it was too late. Does he even know that we're being chased by monsters, this very second? That's when I saw him turn around and there was a huge flash of lightening. I caught a glint of his sea green eyes before everything was in motion. Of course we couldn't have made it to Half Campblood.

I was flying through the air, no longer in my seat. The sensation was incredible… until it wasn't. When gravity finally met up with me, my head slammed into the car door handle where I could feel the skin above my left eye burst open I had hit my arm and ribs pretty hard on the door too. I shook of the shock of the crash and listed a few simple things in my head. I am Callista. I am a demigod. I'm with Percy Jackson and Grover. We are running from monsters and we got into a car crash. I'm still alive. But not for long.

I heard a faint 'ow' come from Percy as I brushed warm blood away from my eye.

"Percy!" His mother shouted and he groaned.

"I'm ok…"

I tried to look out the windows to see they were mostly blacked out. I then realized we had crashed into the ditch, which was full of mud form the rain. It would be impossible to get out. When I felt a cool liquid trickle onto the top of my head, I looked up to see there was a whole in the roof.

"Grover!" I heard Percy yell and I whipped my head around.

Grover's head was hunched over and his body was motionless. I could see a red liquid dribble out of his mouth and my breath caught. It was only a matter of time before one of died, but I couldn't comprehend Grover dead. It just wasn't possible.

"Food…" I heard the word, just faintly, but it showed that Grover was still alive.

"Percy," Mrs. Jackson said, "we have to.." that's when her eyes focused on something and her mouth stayed agape.

I turned around to see what she was staring at. Lightning flashed across the sky and the silhouette of the figure was obvious. He must have been nine feet tall at the least, his body half as wide. It walked on two legs, but the further up the body you went, the larger it got. The chest was broad and strong and full of fur. And his arms were swinging by his sides, as thick as trees and covered in hair. His head was small in comparison and adorned with two large, sharp looking horns. This couldn't be happening.

"Who is-" Percy began to ask when his mom cut him off.

"Kids," Her voice was solemn, "Get out of the car."

She started to shove her shoulder against her door and Percy did too. I knew it was useless, but I had to do something. I tried to push his door with him, desperately trying to get out. The mud had sucked us in though and there was no use. The whole in the roof was still sizzling hot from the lightening and it seemed like there was no escape.

"Climb out the passenger's side!" his mom suddenly yelled and I saw her looking out the window, she then turned to us, "Kids- you have to run. Do you see that big tree?"

_"What?" _Percy yelled back.

I knew exactly what tree she was talking about. I was there when it was made. It was an extremely large tree, one that you'd probably find in an old national park or something. I could see the shape of the pine when lightning struck through the air.

"That the property line," she told us, "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back. Yell for help. Don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom, you're coming too." Percy's voice was desperate.

When his mother didn't answer he started to shout, "You _are _coming with me. Help me carry Grover."

I didn't speak throughout this whole time, feeling as if they needed this time together right now. After all, who knew what could happen?

I now could hear the snorts and grunts coming from the monster. We were sitting her like sitting ducks as it came closer and closer. The creature looked even bigger up close and it felt as if ice was running through my veins. We had to run now or else we would all be dead.

"We have to go!" I cried and started shoving Percy through the door with Grover.

"Not without my mom!" He shouted pushing me back, "I'm not leaving her!"

"I told you-" his mother started to say.

"Mom! You're coming. Help me with Grover!" He shouted for the last time and then allowed me to shove him through the door.

We got out of the car as quickly as possible and Percy heaved one of Grover's arms onto his shoulder and Grover's other arm onto his mom's shoulder. I was left to carry the legs so we wouldn't be dragging him on the ground. We were trudging through mud up a hill in a large field of grass and clover. The rain was still pelting our bare skin as we struggled to put as much distance as we could between us and the monster.

As I looked behind us I saw him looming over the crashed Camaro. I could see the muscle stretch underneath his skin and unbunch as he walked. These muscles covered his whole body, his legs, arms, chest, you name it. Even Arnold Schwarzenegger couldn't compare to this beast. There were no clothes to be seen except for a pair of absolutely radiant white fruit of the loom underwear that would have been hilarious in any other situation. Thick dark hair covered his body from his stomach up, including his face and all of his arms. His neck had to be as thick as a trunk of a tree and just as hair as the rest of him. I could see the faint outline of tendons bulging from his neck and I gulped. He had an enormous snout which had snot pouring from its black nose. In between the nostrils was a golden ring that glinted whenever the lightening lit up the sky. His eyes were colorless dark orbs in his head that just screamed violence. And then of course nobody could miss the horns that were on top of his head, three feet tall and menacing. Now that I could see him more clearly it was easy to place who this monster was. He was the Minotaur.

"That's-" Percy began when his mom interrupted him.

"Pasiphae's son. I wish I'd known how badly they want to kill you," his mother said.

"I really wish I knew that too," I groaned as I pulled Grover's legs farther.

"But he's the Min-" I slapped my hand on his mouth before he could finish.

"Don't say his name," his mother warned, "Names have power."

I looked behind us again to see that he was now bending over the totaled car, his snout right in the mess of everything. He must have been sniffing for our scent. I glanced in front of me and felt sinking disappointment. We were still a ways away from the tree, about a hundred feet and it was the steepest part of the hill.

"Food?" Grover mumbled and I tried to quiet him.

"Mom, what's he doing? Doesn't he see us?" I heard Percy ask.

"His sight and hearing are terrible," she answered, "He goes by smell. But he'll figure out where we are soon enough."

I glimpsed behind me again to see the Minotaur roar in rage and slip his meaty hands through the windows and lift the car up off its wheels. He then twirled around twice and released the piled of metal onto the road, were it slid for a few hundred yards, waves of sparks coming from it. And when the vehicle came to a stop, the gas tank promptly exploded. I faintly recalled Percy's step father telling him that it should have a scratch. Whoopsy.

When I turned back to Percy and his mother, I was immediately heartbroken. Percy's mother was wet to the bone, her teeth chattering and her eyes holding all the sadness in the world, as if she knew she was going to have to run out to the beast to save her son. And then there was Percy, his black hair cemented to his head and his wild sea green eyes telling me he was on the brink of breaking down. They couldn't separate. I knew what I had to do.

I suddenly dropped Grover's leg and started to sprint towards the hulking monster.

"What are you doing Callista?" I heard Percy shout.

"Giving your mom and you a chance!"I screamed back and reached for the hilt of my sword.

As I pulled my sword out, I raised it towards the sky and glared at the Minotaur. It was going to pay for everything it had done. It didn't notice me as I approached it, the monster still looking through the wreckage.

"Hey! Meat head! Down here you moron!" I shouted up to him until his head swiveled around and his eyes stupidly landed on me.

He let out a huge roar, which sent a stabbing pain throughout my ears and it was hard to keep my balance as he ran across the road to get to me. I really hoped that I was doing the right thing. When I saw its sneering face right towards me, I realized I had no plan. At the last moment, I leaped out of the way, breathless and I tried to stab my sword any which way to kill the beast. Turned out I only gave him a small scratch, which annoyed him further.

He turned back to me, his eyes practically glowing with hatred and I lifted my sword again. I had to do this to keep them safe. Rain continued to shower down on me like little bullets, making my brown hair stick to my cheeks and get into my eyes. The wind was howling against the bull's grunts and made my ears icy cold and my teeth chatter. My fingers grew numb on the metal hilt of my sword, but I knew I had to keep going on. As he charged towards me, I got an idea. This time, as I side stepped, I threw myself onto his bulky arm and lifted my sword above my head. His scream echoed as I plunged it into his flesh.

He shook his arm around, trying to fling me off, but I held fast. Sand started to spill from the opening, but he didn't poof into dust like Mrs. Dodds. With one last wave, my grip was ripped away from my sword and I was now flying through the air. This was so much worse than the car.

The wind was whistling passed my ears and my wet hair was being flung everywhere. Rain came from every direction and I felt I was being drowned by how much water was surrounding me. The worse part wasn't the sensation of my stomach dropping or losing the feeling in my legs, but it was the fact that I had more time to think and realize that I was indeed soaring through the air and it was going to hurt when I reached the ground.

The impact was astonishing. My hands were the first ones to hit the ground, seeing as I tried to put them out in front of me to try to soften my fall. I skidded a few feet, the first layers of my skin on my hand and forearms scrapped away as if it was from sandpaper. My knees were bloodied up in the same fashion, two giant holes in fabric of my jeans. And my head had smacked into the ground and bounced back up, the cut over my eye opening up even wider. When I finally was motionless, the pain in my right arm was unbearable and my skull felt like it was going to split open, if it hadn't already.

As I pushed myself up on my one elbow, I tried to look with my good eye to see where the Minotaur had gone. I could see his large form rushing towards the hill and I groaned. I couldn't let him get them, not after what I had just gone through the keep them safe.

I gathered as much courage as I could, "Hey! Ugly! Over here you meatloaf!"

I tried to push myself up and winced as I put pressure on my hands, "I'm still alive! A demigod for the taking!"

I watched him turn around as I spoke the word demigod and I could see the snot fly out of his nose as he snorted, his teeth bared. I knew in this state that I could do nothing, but try to dodge him as much as possible. That alone would be no small task. Now that I had his attention, he dug his feet into the dirt and leaned his horns right towards me and started to run. I got up as fast as I could and started to sprint in the opposite direction of the hill because I knew it was pointless to try to escape and endanger everyone I was trying to protect. I knew this would be my last stand.

"Over here snot face!" I shouted over at him and he started to move his muscular legs even faster to get to me.

As he got closer and closer, I let my eyes glance over to Percy, his mother, and Grover. They were getting closer and closer to the tree, but they were still making little progress. I just hoped my distraction would save them. My leg caught on a whole in the rode and I fell forward. My arms pushed themselves up and I tried to get my legs to move me but I was too late. The Minotaur had already caught up with me. My right arm gave out and I could feel meaty fingers wrap around me.

_This was it, _I thought, _Surely I was about to die. _His hands were a sickly kind of warm and he lifted me up to his face. The smell of spoiled meat stung my nostrils and invaded my mouth. He brought me up to his glazed over black eyes and snorted once again, his snot flying all over my face. He then started to squeeze and I could have sworn the noise coming from him was a type of laugh.

My heart began to race and thunder against my rib cage as if it wanted to escape my death. I could feel my hip bones bend and pain screamed through all of my limbs as they were squashed smaller and smaller. I tried to let out a noise, but all the air was snuffed out of me. Finally, I could literally hear the bones in my legs snap. It was sickening, knowing that I could hear what was happening inside my body and the pain was blinding. _I give up! _I screamed in my head. _Just kill me now!_ Before he could completely pulverize me, he flicked his wrist and I was soaring through open air again. Perhaps he wanted me to die a slow, painful death.

I barely even felt the fall this time. I knew that multiple of my bones were broken, but the pain was coming from everywhere that I couldn't tell which ones. I remember blood obscuring my vision in my right eye even worse than before and my breathing was ragged. I heaved and ended up coughing up a metallic liquid, which I knew had to be blood. Black spots clouded my vision and I was just wondering when would it end, when would my suffering cease? I rolled my head toward the hill, which thanks to the throw, I was only feet from.

My vision blurred and focused in and out, but I tell Percy and his mother were now almost to the tree, just a few more yards away. But the Minotaur was just a few feet from them. I could only hear that Mrs. Jackson was faintly yelling at Percy and they ran away from each other. The monster went directly after Percy. He stood stock still and the best finally charged him, ready to spear him in the chest. Percy had jumped out of the way at the precise time though.

My vision was starting to fade, the world getting darker and darker, but I had to see if they got to the camp safe. I had to see if Percy's mother would find some way out. After missing Percy, the bull reared its head and pawed the ground. He now turned toward Mrs. Jackson, who had what I thought was Grover and was putting him down on the grass. She then started walking down the hill cautiously, as if she knew how important it was to take the right steps. She yelled again and this time the bull took its chance to charge her.

She stood exactly like Percy had and at the last second she tried to jump out of the way, but the bull had learned from both Percy and me. He now reached out his arm and his hand gripped around her neck. This was it. I failed to keep them alive. Percy screamed for her and then the Minotaur just simply wrapped his fingers harder and poof, she was gone in gold shimmering light.

A sudden pain came from my stomach and I heaved again another wad of blood and I wondered how long I could lay here, loosing blood from my head and having it bleed internally. Should I have been dead by now? Would I disappear like Percy's mother, into golden dust? At this point, I couldn't feel my legs or arms anymore, which was fine by me. I didn't want the pain anymore. My sight got more and restricted and I moved my head to look over at Percy.

I was just in time too to see the Minotaur fade into sand. My mind barely registered that the raining had ceased, but the rumble of thunder continued on. I tried to summon all of my strength.

"Percy…" at first it only came out as a whisper but I tried to make it louder, "Percy!"

His head turned over to me and I watched as he hurried over to where I was at. When he bent over me, I could see that tears were running down his face and blood was dribbling down his forehead.

"I'm-I'm sorry that I couldn't save her," I gasped to get air, "But you have to take Grover and go to the house at the bottom of the h-hill."

"Callista, you're coming too. I can't just leave you here." He rubbed some blood off of my forehead.

I managed a weak chuckle, "It would be just a waste of your time," I struggled for more air, "I just wanted to let you know that I-I" I gasped again, "I've never met anyone like you and I'm so sorry that I was mean to you. Now go."

"You're coming. I don't care what you say," His voice was fierce and I could barely see him.

"No! I would slow you down!" I wheezed, "Go get Grover!"

He just took my left arm and started to drag me uphill. I couldn't believe what was happening, but it was so hard to understand everything when my thoughts were being so unorganized. Time was passing, but I wasn't aware of it. All I knew that Percy had now reached Grover and was dragging him along too.

Soon enough, some light pierced through my limited vision and I huffed to get some more air. I could faintly hear Percy crying and screaming for help from anyone, just anyone. The door opened and two familiar faces registered in my mind.

"Daddy," I whispered with so much pain in that simple task.

"Callista! Hurry, Annabeth, bring them inside," Chiron told the blonde girl next to him.

"He's the one. He must be." She breathed and he silenced her.

"He's still conscious. Bring them inside."

And then my world finally fell to the shadows and the pain had ceased.


End file.
